When the combined Alliance fleets fell back in real space after their journey through hyperspace they saw the huge, unfinished structure of the Emperor's new Death Star.
It was a breathtaking sight. Although still under construction it was already larger than its predecessor.
To everyone it was all too clear if it would be finished, it would mean the end of the rebellion and the galaxy would remain under Imperial reign.
They didn't hear anything from General Solo's commando unit, which made its way to the Endor system earlier than the main strike force, but there were high hopes that they had achieved their mission's goal. High hopes that the shield generator was destroyed and they would have an easy job of the unfinished battle station.
Rogue Squadron set their X-wing's s-foils in attack position on Wedge's command and approached the Death Star together with squads consisting of A-, B- and Y-wings.
But it wasn't as easy as they thought it would be.
The pilots heard Lando's voice in their headsets.
"Break off the attack! The shield is still up."
Nomi's monitor didn't show any readout. Her sensors couldn't pick up anything, but she didn't question Lando's assessment and veered off.
It came even worse, when one of the ISDs floating near the Death Star launched TIEs.
The Imperial fighters were trying to get to the cruisers to attack them.
"Accelerate to attack speed! Draw their fire away from the cruisers," another order by General Calrissian came.
Nomi wondered why the Destroyers that blocked a possible escape route didn't engage in the battle. But there wasn't much time to ponder it over.
Even though the ISDs didn't take part the Alliance pilots had their hands full, since they were engaged quickly in ferocious dogfights.
Nomi had just a lock on an enemy fighter when she heard a voice in her head. A voice she had hoped to never hear again. It was the voice of Darth Vader.
"You are here, Lieutenant Darklighter? This will be a day long remembered as it will see the end of your pathetic rebellion. My son is finally with me. He surrendered and we are now on our way to His Majesty. With combined strength we will turn Luke to the dark side."
Hearing this, the young pilot paled and clenched the yoke in her hands.
If Vader and Palpatine succeed in their plans everything would have been in vain.
But Vader hasn't finished bothering Nomi. He continued to speak in her mind.
"After our victory and assuming you are still alive, I will come for you and your children will be mine. There will be no escape, Lieutenant. But now I have to take care of more important matters."
The young woman breathed a sigh of relief as the voice in her head was gone and she was able to fully concentrate on the battle again. It was pure luck the distraction hadn't cost her life.
Nomi had just a lock on another enemy fighter when her cockpit was lit by a blazing explosion. Laser beams were fired from the, believed unfinished, Death Star and an Alliance cruiser was blown by them to dust.
Everybody realized with horror that the battle station was fully operational contrary to what the Bothan spies had provided as information.
"All craft prepare to retreat," a fraction of a second after the Death Star had fired Admiral Ackbar's order came.
Nomi had no idea why he was doing this, but Lando Calrissian contradicted the admiral's order.
"You won't get another chance at this, Admiral."
"We have no choice, General Calrissian. Our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude," Ackbar replied.
"Han will have that shield down. We've got to give him more time," Calrissian responded urgently.
The Alliance's fighter pilots tried desperately to dodge the Death Star's deadly laser beams. Again a cruiser was hit by them and vanished in a fireball. It seemed as if the mission was doomed.
The command, which then came from Lando, was like a call for suicide.
"Move as close as you can and engage those Star Destroyers at point blank range. We might just take a few of them with us."
But Nomi Darklighter didn't hesitate to carry out the order. Better to be killed in action than being Vader's prisoner again.
There were many dogfights near the Destroyers and the fight became more and more desperate if it came to the Alliance forces.
At last they heard from Admiral Ackbar the words they had been waiting for.
"The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor."
Nomi steered her fighter and followed the Millennium Falcon and several X-, A- and Y-wings as they flew towards the Death Star's unfinished surface structure.
They entered under heavy defensive fire the shaft leading to the main reactor, followed by several TIEs.
There was little room to maneuver, but the Alliance fighters flew at full throttle nevertheless, the enemies being in hot pursuit.
"Fuzzy...direct 60% power to the rear shields," Nomi ordered her astromech while dodging ducts and trying not to get hit.
"Split up and head to the surface. See if you can get a few of those TIE fighters to follow you," Lando ordered and got confirmation by one of the pilots.
The rebel fighters, one of them Nomi's X-wing, peeled off pursued by three of the TIEs, while Wedge and Lando continued through the main tunnel towards the Death Star's power generator.
The battle between the Alliance and Imperial fleets raged on.
"We've got to give those fighters more time. Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer," Admiral Ackbar's command was heard over the headsets.
X-wing pilots followed the order and headed across the surface of the huge battleship.
They managed to destroy one of the shield generators and continued their strafing runs despite the heavy defensive fire.
Then everything happened very fast. A damaged A-wing was out of control and heading directly towards the Destroyer's bridge. The pilot's scream was heard over the headsets as his ship crashed right into the bridge. After being hit the giant battle ship lost control, crashed into the Death Star and exploded.
There was cheering all over the Alliance fleet as the Super Star Destroyer blew up.
The Death Star was rocked by explosions as the fleets zoomed over, unloading a heavy barrage. Each direct hit was answered by resonating, chain-reaction explosions in the huge battle station itself.
Weaving her way through the debris Nomi heard Admiral Ackbar's command.
"Move the fleet away from the Death Star."
Out of the corner of her eye Nomi saw an X-wing and the Millennium Falcon flying out of the shaft.
Not long after the battle station was ripped apart by a heavy explosion when the reactor core blew up.
There was cheering and laughter, but the victory was hard-earned. Nomi hoped that Luke had escaped if it was true that he was onboard the Death Star. Slowly she flew back to Home One.
When she climbed out of her X-wing Dash, Gavin, Wedge and Tarik were already there.
The adrenaline in their bodies subsided slowly and they realized how exhausted they were. But there was also happiness, happiness at what they had achieved and at surviving. It was the dominant emotion mixed with sadness for all those who gave their lives.
Dash took his wife-to-be in his arms and kissed her deeply, glad he still could.
When he let go of Nomi he noticed the smiles on Wedge and Gavin's face. Even Tarik showed a friendly expression. It seemed as if the winged alien had finally accepted Dash being a part of Nomi's life.
Wedge walked away, climbed on a crate and cleared his throat to get the Rogue Squadron pilots' attention. When everybody had turned to him he began to speak.
"We have achieved a great victory, Rogues, but the Alliance has paid dearly. The Emperor is gone, but not the Empire itself. But we can't rest, since this victory was just the beginning of freeing the galaxy from Imperial oppression. Nevertheless we will celebrate our victory tomorrow evening."
He jumped down from the crate and left the hangar bay amid the applause of the pilots.
Dash Rendar turned to Nomi and looked at her with a smile.
"Wouldn't the victory celebration be a good occasion for our wedding, Love? What do you think?"
It didn't take long for the young woman to make up her mind.
"Yes, Darling, I've kept you waiting for far too long," she answered with a smile, tiptoed and kissed him.
Not long after they left the hangar hand in hand.