Battle of Exegol
When the ragtag Resistance fleet fell back in real space at Exegol the battle was in full swing already. From the floating debris to tell, it didn't look good for the clearly outnumbered forces which were present, they took heavy fire from the masses of destroyers they tried to defeat. They were unable to cause severe damage to the much larger ships and their weapon systems.
Nomi switched her comm unit to the battle frequency given by Lando Calrissian, while fighters continued with their attack runs. The Jedi Master felt the presence of the dark side, which emanated from the planet itself, all over the place. But it wasn't only the planet Exegol; there was a presence she felt, that she hasn't in decades: the Emperor.
Over comm she heard Poe Dameron's voice, which was filled with despair and sorrow.
"I thought we have a shot. But there's just too many of them."
So Poe was still alive and has led his people in a fight they couldn't win of their own.
Then she heard Lando speaking and she knew very well that this would give new hope.
"There are more of us, Poe. There are more of us."
The commander realized the amazement in Dameron's voice.
"Look at this."
Lando gave a hearty laugh and weaved the Millennium Falcon through the assembled vessels, heading for the front line. Nomi was staring at the enemy fleet and gave orders for the pilots where to attack, when she heard someone say that they should go after the underbelly cannons of the ISDs.
"I agree on this. Let's destroy those damn cannons before they can cause more damage. Remember Kijimi. This shall never happen again."
She steered the Aquarius toward the nearest Destroyer while Corran headed for the gun turret, sat down, donned the headset and strapped in.
"Stay sharp, I'm going in."
"Copy that, leader," came her son's response, who was adjusting the sight.
Leader, there were no names mentioned being in combat. They had to limit the odds that the enemy was able to go after them if the attack failed.
"We're with you, leader, keeping these pesky TIEs at bay," the commander heard her husband's voice. She saw the Outrider engaging a bunch of enemy fighters taking them out one by one. The TIEs scored hits as well, but the YT-2400's modified shields were holding.
Nomi riveted her attention back to the task at hand and approached the Destroyer's underbelly. There was heavy defensive fire by the capital ship's turbolaser batteries, but Corran was shelling the shield with constant laser fire, assisted by the Trader's Luck with his sister at the helm, until it faltered. They took out the laser batteries and headed for the gigantic underbelly cannon.
Corran watched the crosshair intently and then he fired. The cannon exploded in a fireball, causing a chain reaction which destroyed the whole ship. Over the speakers were cheering to be heard, but there was no time to relish the victory. The commander steered her freighter to take on the next Destroyer.
Nomi's Resistance cell fought together, taking out several Destroyers. The commander heard the comm traffic of those who had landed on one of the enemy ships, but she didn't pay much attention being busy with her own tasks in her sector of the battle field.
Suddenly there came blue Force lightning from Exegol's surface; taking out fighters and even the CR90 corvette which was part of Dameron's fleet. Nomi's freighter was hit by the lightning full force and went in a spin. The instruments at her console acted up and she was fighting to steady the Aquarius. A quick glance through the cockpit's viewport showed her, that the other ships nearby experienced the same. The commander heard her son cursing, who was pressed in his harness.
"Hold on, Corran," she said, still fighting to gain back control. The Jedi Master felt the dark side even more and was pretty sure that it was the Emperor himself who attacked the Resistance fleet from the surface.
There was despair and fear of death, but there was also still hope she felt from her comrades. Concentrating and reaching out to the Force, Nomi was finally able to get her ship under control again. She breathed a sigh of relief, but realized at the same moment that something must be going on. The lightning ceased out of the sudden. Hearing the voices of her family members asking each other, if they are fine the commander was relieved when everybody confirmed to be alright. She steered the Aquarius toward the next Destroyer, which was unlike the Resistance vessels untouched by the Force lightning, when she was hailed by her eldest.
"Do you feel this too, Mama?" Dash Jr.'s question came via comm.
Her son was right; there was something in the Force, something she had never felt before.
The two aspects of it were used to an extent, only very powerful Force users were able to do. It was the fight dark against light manifested in two people. Nomi was pretty sure that one of them was the Emperor, but who was the one representing the light side of the Force in this battle?
But there was no time to think about it. "Yes," she answered brusquely and blocked the emotions she felt in the Force, as she engaged the Destroyer. Corran was still in the turret and fired several salvos at the shields which gave way when they couldn't bear the constant barrage any longer.
"Another pass and we got her, Mama," his voice came through the intercom.
"Copy that," Nomi responded and flew full throttle toward the underbelly cannon. It became harder and harder to block the emotions coming from the two people on the planet below.
Corran fired another barrage; the cannon exploded and the chain reaction which followed took out the whole ship. He hasn't told his mother what he was feeling in the Force and that he was fighting to keep the emotions at bay. But he was sure that all family members felt it as well. It was hard to concentrate on the task at hand, but he did what must be done nevertheless.
His mother steered the freighter away from the explosion to not be caught in the aftermath.
Then everything followed in quick succession. The overwhelming power of the dark side suddenly vanished and the boarding party on the command ship reached their goal. Without its signal the other Destroyers were unable to leave Exegol's orbit and were literally sitting ducks. Now it was rather a piece of cake to take them out one by one. Debris of the destroyed enemy ships was raining on the planet's surface, as a single X-wing was launching and ascending, joining the victorious fleet.
The commander heard the call sign Rogue 5 mentioned, Luke Skywalker's call sign during the Galactic Civil War, but it wasn't him.
Corran unstrapped, removed the headset, left the gunner station and headed for the cockpit. There he sat down at his mother's side in the copilot's seat.
"We did it," he said and took a deep breath.
"Yes, we did it, Corran," the Jedi Master responded, while the coordinates of the new Resistance base were fed to the Aquarius' nav computer.
Shortly after, they made the jump to hyperspace.
