Chapter 125

AN: I apologize for how long this update has taken. I hope to have updates now occur more frequently. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

The hanger was abuzz with activity. Ari had seen it, but as soon as the lift doors opened, she heard the voices and smelled the now familiar smells of fighters, fuel, and oil mixed into another smells that could not individually be identified.

She did not give much greeting to the other Rebels except lift her hand as a sign of greeting. They were all focused on their tasks, doing them as quickly as possible.

Once she arrived at the side of the hanger where the privately owned ships were docked, she scanned them to find the one that had been shown to her. Once she spotted it, she started forward. It looked even more different in person. "What is it?" she asked.

R4 beeped and Ari glanced at the translator. "A Delta Seven?" she repeated, then sighed. Shrugging to herself, she lifted R4 up with the Force, setting the droid on the wing. They had done this so often that R4 had stopped beeping wildly in protest. Instead, the droid just beeped once before sliding along the wing. Even though they had been in a few different ships, R4, always knew where to go.

Ari grabbed onto the wing, and using the Force for assistance, she pulled herself onto the fighter. It was a smooth movement as she landed on the wing. She scrambled along the side to the cockpit.

R4 was beeping at her as she got into place and she couldn't help but smile. He said the same thing every time. "I know R4. I didn't hurt any of it though." He always worried she would hurt part of the ship when she did this.

She slipped into the cockpit and was pleasantly surprised there was no need for a flight suit. This ship was equipped with everything she would need. There was just a little comm. unit that went by her mouth and ear, attached by a small band of metal that went around her head.

Pulling it into place, Ari then looked over the controls and her hopes fell. She had the Force and experience of flying a couple different ships, yet this was not going to be enough. The controls were different from other ships she had been in, and while she had some idea as to the controls, she was not certain what they all did.

"R4, do you know anything about these ships?" she asked, fingers gently touching the controls.

The droid beeped in return and Ari glanced at the translator. "Good. As long as one of us knows what we are doing," she managed a tight smile. It changed into a larger one as R4 started the engines. "Thank you," she called to him and there was a beep in response.

Ari managed to close the canopy and belted herself in without any trouble. She also could understand what most of the readings showed and noted that everything was the way it should be. Siri clearly took care of her ship and while she would not need it again, Ari silently vowed to bring it back in good condition.

That was all Ari had time to think about as she requested clearance to launch and got it almost immediately. The ship rose off the hanger floor in a smooth motion and Ari turned it before pushing the controls forward.

She was almost thrown back into her seat as the fighter lunged forward. She gave a small shout of surprise and she heard R4 give a shout of his own. "Hang on, R4!" she shouted as they flew out of the hanger and into the thick of battle.

The TIE fighters were all around, and did not even give her a moment to ready herself before shooting at her.

Ari gave a small shout in surprise as she dodged out of the way. She was amazed at how sensitive the controls were. It made her smile once she was relatively safe from being fired upon. This ship could handle much more than the previous ships she had flown, even though it was older than they had been.

She banked to the port side sharply, causing R4 to beep at her. "Yes, I am fine. It is just time to get back to battle."

R4 beeped again but Ari could not answer. Instead, she was entering the thick of battle, the ship responding to the slightest touch. "Open communications," she told R4 as she shot at one of the TIEs, causing it run into one of its companions, both of them exploding on impact.

As soon as the comm. turned on, Ari could hear the conversation between all the pilots. Many of the ace pilots, such as Wedge and those in his command, had gone with Luke and the others to Bakura. These pilots were talented, but did not have as much experience.

"Unidentified vessel, identify yourself or you will be fired upon," a voice came over her comm..

"This is Lieutenant Narabe, borrowing another ship." She transmitted a code that had been given to her. Each Rebel had one so that if they were in another ship, they could prove it. It did not happen often, but it was best to be prepared for these rare situations.

"Lieutenant, this is Blue Leader. We need to finish this fast. We blocked transmissions, but I do not think that will last much longer."

"Then we'll be fast," Ari replied and she turned to ship starboard sharply to take after a TIE, which seemed to be trying to get away from the fight. A pilot would only escape the fight if ordered to do so, due to a damaged craft, which this ship wasn't, or to get out of range of others blocking the ability to send a transmission.

Ari knew they couldn't let get out of the blocked zone, or reinforcements would come. The Death Star was destroyed and the Emperor was dead, but apparently there were some, like these pilots, who either refused to believe it, or else believed that the Empire could rise once more.

Blocking out everything else, Ari pushed the fighter harder, shooting at the Imperial ship. She didn't even hear the other Rebels over her comm., not any of the shots that came closer to her ship. She had opened herself up to the Force, letting that control her actions. She was not certain how she knew which way to turn to avoid a stray shot, but she did. Even though there were some narrow misses, Ari refused to let the other fighter go.

Shooting at him once more, Ari's shots hit their mark and the TIE fighter erupted into a shimmering cloud of debris.

With that threat now removed, Ari turned the ship back toward the battle zone. "I think I have the hang of this," she remarked to R4, who beeped in response. Ari glanced at the ship's translator and nodded slightly. "I am happy about it too." Her smile faded quickly, sensing the change before she saw it.

A trio of TIE fighters had closed in on two of the Alliance ships. Both of the ships were attacked and destroyed before any warning could be given.

Ari felt their absence and she felt a slight burning sensation in her eyes. It never got any easier, losing comrades. Even though she had not known them, they had been bound by the same dream and purpose. To free the galaxy and restore peace. The cost had been their lives.

Ari pushed that from her mind, knowing those who survived would mourn after the battle. The battle had not been going long, yet seconds could seem like hours in battle.

Scanning the remaining fighters, both ally and enemy, she felt a strange pull to a TIE fighter, no different than the others in appearance. Yet, appearances could be deceiving. She did not know how, but she knew that this was the leader of this attack.

"Blue leader, be aware of the TIE twenty clicks to your port side," she warned. "That's the leader."

"Are you sure?" Blue Leader asked, and Ari recognized his voice this time. His name was Javin. He was good at flying, having experience. Yet, he still was learning about how to fight in a dogfight like this.

"Yes," Ari answered. "Don't ask me how, just trust me." She found that she had been saying that a lot more and most of the Alliance knew about the fact that she was Force sensitive, so they usually accepted her word when she said she was certain of something.

At that moment, the leader spun away from the two flanking it, coming straight at Ari., who didn't even have time to shout in surprise before she was forced to spin in a barrel roll while pulling upward.

R4 gave his version of a scream and Ari was also amazed by how that had gone. She quickly came out of her vertical ascent and used her naked eye, as well as the Force to find her attacker.

She was amazed that she could not sense the other pilot, and it worried her. Only others with Force training could do that, from what she could tell. Could that mean…?

Her thoughts were torn away as she nearly was shot by the still unknown attacker. In battles such as these, enemies usually did not focus on one ship. It was clear this was not how the other pilot would be.

She heard a scream from another comrade as they were killed by another enemy. In this situation, it was hard to Ari to keep calm. How could she when she was being singled out by a pilot who probably had more experience than she did, and her comrades were falling to enemy fighters.

"This is Blue Seven. We lost Blue Leader."

"Then I will take his place," Ari answered as she and her attacker were playing a game of cat and mouse, shooting and then swerving to avoid being hit by the other. It hurt her heart to realize that they had lost Javin. He had been a good man.

A thought came to her then and for a moment, hope flared through her. "All fighters, Death Star formation," she ordered.

"What?" she heard. "Blue Leader, that makes us easier to hit."

"No, it makes you harder. It means more shots to hit their mark on enemies before they can shoot at you. This is an order," she almost snapped. She had never snapped before at any of those in her command. It was almost hard not to though. She had taken command and this was not a committee to discuss attack plans.

Ari tried to help her comrades as she could, shooting at a few TIE fighters, but even with the Force's help, she couldn't shake, or destroy the ship that had a personal vendetta against her. When she pulled up sharply to loop up and around, to place herself behind the fighter and shoot, the ship would pull down and slow extremely fast to not allow that to happen.

"It's working!" someone shouted and Ari saw that the group formation was working and their enemies knew it. They seemed unwilling to attack such a group and for a moment, there was a standstill between the two groups. Ari then noted that there were more Alliance ships than Imperial fighters and she had to smile to herself. It had worked.

Then, after just another tense moment, the TIE fighters disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ari saw her pursuer was the last one there. Ari was certain that this pilot did not want to leave and wondered if a retreat had truly been ordered, or if the others decided to leave without permission. However, no matter how good the pilot was, he or she was no match for a dozen fighters. In just a flash, the ship was gone as well.

"What just happened?" a pilot asked.

"We won!" someone shouted and a cheer arose from the pilots and ever Ari had to breath a sigh of relief. She could not shake the feeling left by the other pilot, but refused to dwell on it. There were other things to focus on. They would still have to move locations, since it was possible the Imperials might return with reinforcements. However, they had the time do that and inform others in the Alliance of the change in coordinates.

Ari let R4 take the fighter in, which let her relax for a moment. Then a thought came to her and she gave a small laugh. R4 heard her and asked her what was amusing.

"Just thinking how you are probably glad I was meditating when the alarms went off, instead of focusing on lifting you."