The New Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 16 - The Asteroid Belt

The next morning, Poe Dameron himself knocked on the door of Nomi and Dash's quarters. Rendar opened the door, expecting to see his eldest son. Surprised, he made way for the commander. But Poe did not enter and remained standing on the doorstep. He was pleased to see that the two pilots were already wearing their gear.
"Good morning, Commander Darklighter, Major Rendar. Today I would like to test your skills in the orbit of D'Qar. I'm sure you saw the asteroid belt when you arrived here. We will fly into the belt and practice there."
Nomi nodded.
"Into the asteroid belt. As you wish, Commander."
Poe expected a different answer than this. He saw no trace of fear or doubt in Nomi or her husband.
"Then come to the landing site. We already have clearance to take off."
Dameron turned around and walked forward quickly. He could hardly wait to see how the veterans of the Galactic Civil War would fare in the asteroid belt.
So far, the Sullustan Nien Nunb was the only one who wasn't deathly pale when he returned from that area.

After a short pre-flight check, the three X-wings ascended into the atmosphere of D'Qar. Soon they were in orbit and flying towards the asteroid belt.
"Commander Darklighter, fly through the belt as quickly as possible. I'll be waiting for you here," Nomi heard Dameron's voice in her headset.
The Jedi smiled. The commander had no way of knowing that she had already flown through the asteroid field of Hoth and even through minefields.
"Okay, Fuzzy, let's show the young man what we're capable of."
The astromech whistled happily as the Jedi steered her X-wing fighter into the asteroid belt.
Large and small chunks slowly trundled in her direction or drifted away. Nomi knew from experience that these movements were not random, but followed a pattern. She just had to recognize what pattern it was. The slightest mistake could end in disaster.
Carefully, the Jedi reached out with the Force. A moment later, she saw the safe path in her mind's eye and began the flight through the asteroid belt.
"Fuzzy, full power to the shields!"
Nomi literally danced around the rolling and drifting chunks with her fighter. Each time the pattern changed, she adapted to it in a fraction of a millisecond. She didn't hear Fuzzy's desperate beeping when the droid thought she was flying too recklessly. The Jedi now flew through the asteroids in a trance-like state. There was only her, the asteroids and the Force to guide her.
In less than ten minutes, Nomi had crossed the asteroid belt and reappeared next to Dameron's X-wing. She emerged from her trance, blinked and activated her comm.
"Mission accomplished, Commander," she reported to Poe.
The Jedi could see him shake his head as she looked into his cockpit.
"I... I can't believe this," she heard his voice.
But the commander quickly regained his composure.
"Major Rendar, it's your turn."

Dash moved slowly towards the asteroid belt, carefully scrutinizing the floating chunks. He knew his wife was only flying so fast because she had used the Force. Rendar hoped that Dameron wouldn't ask any questions.
The whole scenario reminded him of his flight through the debris of Prince Xizor's Skyhook. It wasn't much different, except that there was no fire and that an X-wing was much more maneuverable than his Outrider.
"Okay, R2-D4, full power to the shields. Let's go!"
He entered the asteroid belt and flew through the boulders at a dangerous speed.
"Sithspawn!" Suddenly, Nomi and Poe heard Dash's voice over the comms. "Where did you come from?"
A short time later, they saw laser beams in the asteroid belt. Nomi knew that her husband was not the type to avoid obstacles.
"Gotcha," she heard Dash's voice and breathed a sigh of relief.
The former mercenary got into a flow. Like his wife, he flew skillfully through the moving obstacles.
A little later, Dash's X-wing hovered next to the other two.
Dameron looked at his chrono.
"Fifteen minutes, Major Rendar. And accurate shots at this speed - I'm impressed."

At the same moment, several X-wings left hyperspace. It had to be Red Squadron, which was also under Dameron's command.
"Commander Dameron, this is Red 1. Mission accomplished," Nomi and Dash heard a familiar voice over the comms.
"Well done, Reds," replied the commander. "I'm proud of you all."
He paused for a moment.
"Red 1, I have a special surprise for you. I'll meet you at the landing pad."
When the X- wings landed, Tasherit Rendar jumped out of her fighter and rushed to Poe Dameron.
"What kind of surprise is it, Commander?"
Before Dameron could answer, the young pilot saw the surprise. She rushed towards her parents, who were standing next to their fighters.
"Mama? Papa? What are you doing here?"
Nomi laughed.
"The same as you and your brothers. We're fighting the First Order."

The young Jedi hugged her parents lovingly as Dameron walked away so as not to disturb the reunion.
"I never thought I'd see you both here so soon."
Tasherit gave her father a mischievous look.
Dash laughed.
"You know your mother and I are full of surprises, right? We're not just going to leave the glory to you and your brothers."
His daughter laughed too.
"I don't think so, Papa. You've never craved glory. But I have to go now, Commander Dameron is waiting for my mission report."
She turned to go, then turned back and waved to her parents.
"Maybe I'll see you tomorrow, if there's no new mission for the Reds."
Then she hurried at a brisk pace to Poe Dameron's quarters to give her report.

Dash looked after her and then turned to his wife.
"Our little girl has grown into a brave woman, darling," he whispered in Nomi's ear.
"Yes, we can be very proud of her and her brothers too," the Jedi replied, taking her husband's hand. "Let's go to our quarters."