total change of pace. i don't usually write action-y battle sequences so i hope this comes out all right. This is the story of two mothers. also i'm just beginning to dabble in Mando'a so go easy on me if it's not perfect.

Veeka pulled back a bit on the throttle just enough to get the fighter lined up in her sights. Her enemy had been leading her on a merry dance but there was no way he could escape her now.

"This is for Clan Ordo, Lok Scum!" And along with her weapons she let loose with a stream of curses in Mando'a and Basic.

Then the unthinkable happened. As she watched the blazing missiles streaking toward their intended target, a small freighter suddenly materialized out of hyperspace directly between Veeka and her enemy. Along with it came a voice screaming over the open comm channel. "Someone help! Please! The baby's coming and I..." another scream and then the channel went to static as Veeka's torpedoes slammed into the side of the innocent vessel.

"No!" Veeka yelled.

A second later and the freighter rocked back toward her, obviously taking fire that her enemy had meant for her. She had to bank sharply to avoid collision but when she cleared the vessel she saw that at least one of her marks had hit the intended target. The Clan Lok fighter spun toward Concord Dawn, hit the atmosphere at too steep an angle, and began to burn up as it tumbled toward the planet.

Veeka turned her attention toward the freighter. It was pretty badly beat up. The make was from Onderon she was fairly sure and it must have had some kind of minimal shielding or it would have been blasted to bits with her first volley. It was going to need to pull up and quick, however, or it was going to go the same way as the enemy fighter.

She tried to hail the pilot on the open channel. "Onderon Freighter, do you copy!"

There was static again and then, Veeka wasn't sure at first, she thought she heard a baby cry. A mechanical female voice, a med droid maybe said, "It is a girl, Mistress." Then there was more static.

Veeka was amazed, a baby born here in the middle of a fire fight. She tried to hail them again. "Freighter, you need to pull up or you're going to hit the atmosphere hot!"

"Yes, I..." an exhausted female voice came through the static. "J3 secure her for a bumpy landing."

"Yes, Mistress." That was the droid's voice again with the baby still crying.

"I'm just going to..." The freighter pilot grunted with the effort and then Veeka thankfully saw the vessel level out a bit in its approach to the planet. It was still going down but at least it wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere.

"Good job, Freighter." Veeka told the other female pilot. "Sounds like congratulations are in order."

"Yes," came the tired voice. "Went into labor in hyperspace. Dropped out to try to get... some... help..."

It sounded like she was going to pass out. "Stay with me!" Veeka yelled through the comm at her trying to keep her awake.

"I'm, here..."

"Good, good." Veeka angled her fighter to stay as close to the freigher's wing as she could safely manage. "And I'm right there with you. The droid said you had a girl."

"Yes." the freighter pilot's voice brightened a bit. "Never considered any boy names. Had the name Soniee picked out since I... found out..."

Veeka could tell she was fading again and worried as the nose of the freighter dipped into a slightly deeper dive. "Soniee!" She said a little louder trying to keep the other woman's attention. "That's a beautiful name! I've always wanted to have children, so far, no luck." Maybe that's why Veeka was striving so hard to save the freighter, that and the tremendous amount of guilt she felt that it was her fire that was brining down it down.

The woman lapsed into a language that Veeka didn't understand. She guessed it was whatever they spoke on Onderon. At least she was talking. Then the words naturally began to flow into a tune. It was some kind of lullaby but that too began to fade.

"Stay with me!" Veeka nearly growled into the comm link. She was on the verge of tears and if she started crying her flight goggles were going to start fogging up. Definitely not a good thing with the ground rushing up to meet the two vessels.

There was a string of words in that unknown language that ended with, "...Soniee." and then with a last effort, "Take care of my Soniee..."

The freighter skimmed the top of a section of forest canopy that did little to slow it down and then it slammed into the rise of a hillside where the trees cleared. Veeka had to pull up quickly not to meet the same fate. She swore and circled around trying to find a place to land so she could search the wreckage for survivors. If there were any. She couldn't see how anyone could make it out of that alive.

Almost before her fighter was completely on the ground, Veeka began to rip off her belts and helmet and goggles. She threw open the hatch, jumped to the forest floor, and ran for the freighter. Tears ran down her cheeks unchecked when she saw the wreckage close up. The front end, the cockpit, was completely crushed against the hillside. She fell to her knees.

Veeka didn't know how long she stayed like that, mourning the pilot who's name she didn't even know. It was so quiet after the noise of the wreck and eventually the sounds of birds and small animals began to return to normalcy. Then Veeka heard another noise a soft whimpering that suddenly broke out into a lusty newborn cry.

The pilot was on her feet again in an instant and bashing at the hatch to get it open. After a moment the mechanism haltingly lowered a meter and no more.

"We have been saved!" a mechanical voice shrieked as Veeka clambered through the hatch opening. The med droid's lower limbs were twisted and one arm was hanging useless at its side.

"The baby, where is she? Is she okay?" Veeka scanned the wreckage of the hold.

"The infant is unharmed but she requires nourishment." The med droid hobbled on her twisted leg toward a shelf that would normally have been used to store supplies. There wrapped in what must have been her mother's piloting jacket was the tiny baby girl.

Veeka lifted the baby carefully from the shelf and cradled the infant in her arms. Some how, miraculously, she appeared to be completely unhurt. "How is this possible?"

The joints of the med droid creaked. "She floated."

"What?"

"During the crash. I could hardly believe my optical sensors. The infant seemed to float in the air."

"You mean like she has some kind of magic, Jedi powers?"

The med droid paused to process the information. "I suppose that would explain the phenomena."

"What are you, little Soniee?" Veeka gazed with awe at the bundle in her arms. The little eyes that stared back up at her looked too wise for only being a few hours old, but the baby was still so small, so vulnerable. She began to cry again and Veeka hushed her gently. "K'uur ad'ika."

The battle-hardened pilot began to hum the tune Soniee's mother had been singing. She didn't know the words but it seemed to soothe the child and then she spoke the words from her heart, "Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad."

Mando'a translations from Wookieepedia:
k'uur - Hush!
ad'ika - kid, lad, boy, sweetie, darling, son, daughter, child
Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad - "I know your name as my child"; Mandalorian adoption vow