The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 8 - In the Cold

Several standard weeks were gone, during which Nomi and Tarik became more and more familiar with their comrades and tasks in Rogue Squadron. It was a great joy for Nomi when she had learned that her childhood friend Luke Skywalker was the one who had destroyed the Death Star and that he was also a member of Rogue Squadron. All pilots were speaking about the hero of the Rebellion.

The young woman was just on the way to the simulator room, followed by Fuzzy when there was an announcement over the intercom.
"All personnel to the mess hall! All personnel to the mess hall!"
Nomi turned on her heels and headed for the mess hall. When she entered, there were many people already gathered. Tarik waved her over to where the pilots of Rogue Squadron were standing. Luke greeted her with a grin.
"I wonder what's so important," he said when General Rieekan made his way through the crowd. Those gathered made place for the leader of the resistance cell and stopped talking when the man cleared his throat and demanded silence with a gesture of his hand.
"We've found a planet where we can establish a new base. It's in the Anoat sector and very different from the planet where Base One was. Hoth is an ice planet."
Nomi looked at Tarik and raised an eyebrow.
"Great," she murmured silently with a sarcastic undertone, while the general continued to speak.
"We are well aware that this will mean to work under harsh conditions, but it's rather out of the way and we will have additional protection because of the asteroid belt surrounding the planet. The odds that the Empire will find us there are very limited. The transports which will bring us and the equipment there have arrived and docked recently. Rogue Squadron will fly an escort so we will arrive safely at our destination. May the Force be with us."
There weren't any questions asked by those gathered and Rieekan left the mess hall.

Antilles turned his attention to the pilots of Rogue Squadron who were standing at his side.
"You've heard the general. Prepare everything for escort duty. Droids will bring your belongings onboard the transports so you don't have to worry about it. An ice planet; I hope our equipment will work there properly. I don't want the Empire to catch us with our pants down. Either way it will mean a lot of work to establish a new base. Alright, we'll meet at the hangar bay."
He turned and took his leave heading for the hangar bay. Nomi, Luke, Tarik and the other pilots left the mess hall as well. Fuzzy followed them beeping happily.
After they geared up they headed out of the ready room and to their fighters. Nomi climbed up the ladder, while Fuzzy engaged his thrusters and flew in the X-wing's droid socket where he settled in. The young pilot buckled up, donned the helmet and gloves before she made the preflight check. When she looked at the display she saw that the coordinates of their destination were already fed to the nav computer. It didn't take long and Commander Antilles gave the order to launch.
Nomi started the engine and flew through the magcon field. Outside she steered her fighter toward the transport she was tasked to escort on the journey to Hoth. When all fighters were assembled at their respective transports they jumped one by one into hyperspace.

Nomi settled back in her seat and stared at the whirl of hyperspace. So the journey to the new hideout has begun. Fuzzy was beeping and chirping. When she looked at the display she saw the translation. It was a lengthy tale about his former masters and how he had been treated by them. The pilot rolled her eyes about the droid's sermon, but she didn't bother to ask him to shut up. It was better than to travel in total silence.
Until now Tarik had always kept her company when they were travelling hyperspace. To be rather alone was a new experience to Nomi. The pilots were roped in to keep comm silence during flight, since there was the possibility that the Empire could get wind of them. The young woman wasn't sure if she should look forward to what was lying ahead. Born and raised on the desert planet Tatooine she wasn't used to the cold which was awaiting her and her comrades. She doubted that she would like Hoth, but it wasn't her place to question General Rieekan's decision.
Fuzzy was still chatting with her, but she gave up looking at the translation. The constant stream of beeps and chirps lulled her almost to sleep, but she had to stay alert.
She took out a ration bar and began to eat. There wasn't anything else to do and it would keep her awake.

Nomi woke with a start when she heard the signal indicating that they had reached their destination. She realized that she had fallen asleep despite all her efforts to stay awake. She felt embarrassed and was glad that Fuzzy was the only witness. With luck he would keep his vocoder shut and wouldn't tell his droid comrades about it. She pulled the lever and the whirl of hyperspace resolved back to stars. In front of her floated Tarik's X-wing alongside the Gallofree transport. Nothing else was there than the transports, their escorts and the ice planet with its asteroid belt.
"Welcome to the back of beyond," Nomi muttered to herself as she landed the fighter minutes later, unbuckled, opened the hatch and jumped down. She landed waist deep in the snow. So this would be their new home. There was a lot of work ahead until they would have the base up and running.