Back to Duty

It was a boring time in the med bay and despite the fact that she got visitors frequently; Nomi Darklighter was relieved when 2-1B told her that she could leave and resume her duties as a pilot.

As Nomi entered the hangar bay, her brother Gavin looked up from his work, wiped his greasy hands at a cloth and came over, followed by Fuzzy who whistled happily. The young man hugged his big sister tightly. After a while he let go.
"I'm glad you're back, Sis," he said and pointed at Fuzzy who stood at his side, giving a stream of excited whistles and beeps. "The little fella here missed you too and I'm glad you can take care of him now. Frankly, he was a nuisance."
Nomi chuckled and patted the astromech's dome.
"Fuzzy is very special," she finally managed to say and tried to imagine how the droid was going on her little brother's nerves.
"This for sure," her brother said with a lopsided grin. "Therefore you're such a good team. I missed you being out of patrol. It wasn't the same without you being my wingman."
Brother and sister hadn't noticed that the other Rogue Squadron pilots had approached them.
But then they clapped and Tarik pulled Nomi in an embrace. Wedge Antilles stood there with a big smile. He was glad that the young woman was out of the med bay. The argument with Dash Rendar and the mercenary's reproaches were still nagging at him.
"Welcome back, Nomi," he said and the gathered pilots clapped again and cheered.
They weren't only comrades but family to Nomi and she was happy to be back.

The daily routine was interrupted a few days later, when the sirens onboard blared and the pilots of Rogue Squadron headed for their X-wings. It didn't take long and they launched.
Wedge Antilles cursed loudly when he saw what just dropped out of hyperspace. A single Victory class Star Destroyer which seemed to have found them by pure coincidence. The commander knew that the comm staff on duty would jam the enemy vessel's communication already, so there wouldn't be any possibility to send the coordinates and more Imperial forces would show up. Rogue Squadron was deployed to engage the TIEs they had just launched and the Destroyer itself.
"Rogues, S-foils in attack position and fire at will," Antilles' voice was heard in his pilots' headsets.
One by one the pilots did as ordered and picked their targets.
Nomi got a lock and fired, but then she had a feeling of danger before the proximity alert sounded. At the last moment she went in a steep dive and the laser beam, which would have pierced her cockpit, missed. She breathed a sigh of relief, but this was neither the time nor the place to chew over what could have happened. She picked her next target and carried on.

Commander Wedge Antilles preferred a rather unpredictable approach in combat, which was very different from what he had learned at the Imperial Academy back then. He knew that only a few Imperial squads did the same. Most of them executed specified attack patterns which made them predictable and vulnerable. Predictable didn't mean that they fell like Neimoidian Mistflies, but it made it a bit easier to defeat them.
He picked his targets carefully and took them out one by one. When he cast a quick glance out of the side window of his cockpit, he saw one of his pilots being in danger.
"Rogue 3, a TIE's tailing you," he said calmly.
"I can't see anything, Leader. My scanner doesn't work," they heard Rogue 3's voice, as he began to fly evasive maneuvers.
But everything the pilot tried was in vain. Flames came out of his X-wing's stern after a direct hit. It wasn't fatal, but enough to take him out of the battle. Slowly he drifted to the frigate with an engine failure.
Even though they lost Rogue 3 they kept up fighting and took down several enemy fighters. Suddenly Nomi Darklighter noticed something as she cast a glance at her readouts, after she evaded the aftermath of the explosion caused by the TIE she just hit. Shards of destroyed and damaged fighters were drifting everywhere and it became more and more difficult to maneuver.
"Leader, there's something odd on my readouts," she called Wedge, while weaving her way through the debris.
"I noticed it as well, Rogue 10," the commander responded and shot down another enemy fighter.
"Do you think the same as me, Leader?"
"I bet I know what you think. We're going in, Rogue 10. Rogues, keep the TIEs busy and out of our necks and don't let the Destroyer come in firing range if it comes to the transports or the frigate," Antilles responded and steered his fighter towards the Destroyer followed suit by Nomi.

They met heavy defensive fire, but their shields held so far. Finally they were in firing range and took advantage of the mistake the Destroyer's commander made. He had concentrated the whole power on the rear shields instead to divide it evenly on the shield projectors all over the capital ship. Nomi's finger lingered over the fire button, waiting patiently to get a lock on one of the Destroyer's vital sections. Her commander did the same and when the signal indicating a lock came both pushed the button and sent the proton torpedoes towards the Destroyer. The torpedoes hit their targets and a chain reaction went through the ship. It didn't take long and it listed to starboard while it broke apart.
Some of the TIE fighters nearby were caught in the explosion and in its aftermath.
"Good job, Rogue 10," Wedge said and the members of Rogue Squadron cheered when they witnessed the downfall of the Victory class Destroyer.
To mop up the rest of the enemy fighters was an easy task now and minutes later the battle was over.

When the victorious fighters landed onboard the frigate, Nomi saw Dash Rendar standing at the Outrider. A smile lit up the man's face as the woman he loved left her X-wing and climbed down the ladder. Fuzzy activated his repulsors and went down to the floor to follow his pilot when she walked over to her fiancé.
"Welcome back, my love," he said and bent down to give her a kiss. "I will leave soon to search for Boba Fett, who has Han Solo, but before this there is something very important."
Nomi nodded her head. She remembered what Luke had told her about what happened in Cloud City.
"I don't want to wait any longer, Nomi," he continued. "Let us marry as soon as Solo is freed."
"Yes, I agree on this," the young woman responded with a smile. Then she tiptoed and kissed him. "I'm looking forward to being your wife."
The mercenary smiled and caressed her cheek.
"I must leave, but I'll be back soon, I promise," he said and turned to his ship's access ramp.
When he reached the hatch he turned and waved goodbye. Then he entered and minutes later he was on the way.