Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 59

The fleet was immense. It stretched back as far as the eye could see, with more and more ships still joining it from hyperspace. All kinds of ships composed it – fighters, freighters, cruisers. Some new, some dating back to older wars. The sky around them seemed to shine a brighter blue, illuminated by thousands of lights and engines penetrating the dark.

The spark of hope, of resistance, had finally found the strength to become a fire.

Nova's eyes became watery. Mouth agape as she took in the view, a gasp catching in her throat.

"Look at this..." Poe said, just as awestruck. "Look at this!"

A vast number of callsigns flooded the comms channel, standing by for orders. The Ghost, Alphabet, Phantom and Inferno Squadron, The Fireball. Everyone the Rebellion or Resistance had ever touched, all there.

The Millennium Falcon swung into view, taking the lead of the allies. With it came Lando's triumphant laughter to fill the comms, washing away the fears of the Resistance.

"Lando, you did it," Finn cheered. "You did it!"

Nova let out a small scream of relief and joy, punching the air in her cockpit. Guiding her X-Wing back around, she joined her father's and fiancé's ships, leading the galaxy into battle.

"Hit those underbelly cannons," Poe instructed. "Every one we knock out is a world saved."

They danced through the fresh barrage of fire from the Final Order, a threat that looked so trivial now against their forces.

Nova broke off before reaching the first destroyer, followed by a selection of fighters to cover those who went for the cannon. They blew through the TIEs together, the flames of their damage lighting up their faces before being snuffed out forever.

The first Star Destroyer's cannon exploded in a cloud of black smoke and fire. It spread through the body of the ship, tearing it apart from the inside out. The metal cracked and broke, forced far past its limits to be reduced to scrap, falling toward the planet's surface.

The fighters and more manoeuvrable freighters continued to launch attacks, going from ship to ship. Other fighters split off to engage the TIEs and protect the larger and older cruisers. They left no enemy ship unscorched.

A Y-Wing accompanied Nova in an attack run on a cannon, assisting her in obliterating it. The new ship earned a small tail of fire as it passed through explosion with flare, and a familiar voice exclaimed: "So long, sky trash!"

Poe frowned. "Who's that flyer?"

"Take a guess, spice runner!" Zorii said triumphantly.

"Ha! Zorii, you made it!"

Nova's jaw clenched, and she took comfort in the battle around her giving her an outlet for the bad taste Zorii left in her mouth. Taking down TIEs became strangely cathartic.

Her distaste for Zorii was not born out of anything as trivial as jealousy. There was no cause for it. It was instead born out of the trust of the galactic underworld: the one thing you can trust a criminal to be in untrustworthy. A feeling she was sure was mutual.

Then there was the darker truth that, in a way, the spice runner was a dark mirror for the ex-bounty hunter. A painful reminder of the path she had walked for many years. And where Zorii seemingly was content with the choices in her life, Nova was haunted by them. A fact evident to them both, keeping them from ever truly respecting each other either.

The tide of the battle was turning swiftly.

Bastila and Lel intercepted another squadron of TIEs while the Falcon lead the next attack on a ship.