Three months had passed during which Nomi had nothing to do but to take care of the triplets and take part in combat drills.
Nomi and her husband had just had breakfast when the young woman's comm went off. She took the call and heard Admiral Ackbar's voice.
"Come to the command center, Captain."
The pilot looked at her husband and wondered why he didn't get a call too.
Dash took a sip of caf and leaned back on his seat.
"You should go, darling. Superiors hate waiting," he said with a wink. "Leebo and I will take care of the triplets."
The droid standing nearby turned his head, his photoreceptors glowing brighter than usual. "Of course," he answered curtly, but Nomi and Dash were well aware that the droid was very fond of the babies.
Nomi stood up, kissed her husband and left their quarters to go to the command center.
It was quite a nice day and the pilot enjoyed the short walk. When she reached the command center, Admiral Ackbar and Wedge Antilles were already waiting for her.
"Ah, Captain Darklighter," said the admiral and pointed at a chair. "Please take a seat."
Nomi sat down and looked at the two men expectantly.
The admiral cleared his throat before speaking.
"As you know, we are in need of spare parts for our X-wings, Captain. Commander Antilles suggested asking you if you would like to join this mission. The newly allied government of Bakura agreed to provide us with what we need. You see it will be an easy task. We wouldn't ask you if it were otherwise."
The Mon Calamari nodded to Wedge, who began to speak.
"It will be like a walk in the park, Nomi. We will take either the Outrider or the Aquarius using a fake ship ID. The fake ID is just in case, I doubt we will need it. Are you interested?"
Nomi poured herself a glass of water and considered the offer of a new mission after being fairly inactive for months. She took a sip of water after making up her mind.
"Count me in, Wedge. When will we go?"
The commander rose from his seat.
"Once you have spoken to Dash and packed... Admiral."
Wedge inclined his head to his superior and left the room to prepare for the mission ahead.
When the commander had left, Nomi drank the water in one go, rose from her seat, inclined her head and went to her quarters to speak to Dash about the mission.
Dash looked up from his datapad as his wife entered.
"What did the admiral want, love?" The former mercenary asked.
"A new mission, Dash," his wife replied, sitting down next to him. "Wedge and I will pick up spare parts from Bakura."
Her husband frowned and put the datapad aside.
"Wedge and you? May I ask why not you and me?"
Nomi shrugged.
"I don't know, Dash. We need a freighter and I was thinking of the Outrider."
"The Outrider? No, I don't want Wedge flying my ship. I'm pretty sure he can't handle her," Rendar said firmly, leaning back in his seat.
Nomi rolled her eyes, but she wasn't in the mood to argue with her husband again about Wedge.
"All right, then let's fly to Endor and get the Aquarius. You can take us there with the Outrider. How does that sound?" She asked with a smile, hoping her husband would agree to the suggestion, putting a hand on his hand.
"I can do this, but who's going to take care of the triplets when we're both gone?"
"Oh, Leia will do that. She has asked several times if she could babysit them. So you're taking us to Endor?"
Dash Rendar nodded his head, took his wife's hand and kissed it.
"Of course, honey. How could I refuse your wish? Leebo! Take the triplets to Princess Leia and prepare the Outrider for take-off!"
"Yes, Dash," they heard the droid's mechanical voice. He then started packing a bag with what the babies would need before picking up the crate with the sleeping triplets.
"I'm taking the babies to Princess Leia now," Leebo said as he walked out the door carrying the precious cargo.
Together Nomi and Dash went to the hangar, where Wedge was already waiting for them after the young woman had called and told him about the plan.
"Good morning, Wedge, ready for Endor?" Rendar asked with a grin.
"Good morning. I'm ready as always, Dash," the commander replied, walking up the ramp followed by his friends.
Not much later, the Outrider launched and made the jump into hyperspace.
The flight was uneventful. When the signal came, Dash pulled the lever and the whirls of hyperspace changed to the darkness of star-studded real space. Ahead they saw the forest moon of Endor where they had left the Aquarius.
After being hailed from ground control and sending the correct ID code, Rendar smoothly landed the Outrider in the clearing near the Ewok village. Nomi smiled when she saw her beloved ship standing there.
Her husband cut the engines, opened the hatch and turned to her.
"Time to say goodbye, darling," he said with a smile.
Then he swiveled the pilot's seat and looked gravely at Wedge Antilles.
"Take care of my wife, Wedge."
The commander nodded his head and rose from his seat.
"I promise to bring Nomi back safe and sound, and you know I always keep my promises, Dash."
Antilles left the cockpit and headed down the ramp to give the couple some privacy.
Nomi stood up, bent down and kissed her husband.
"You don't need to worry. It's just a cargo flight. We'll be back in a few days."
Rendar caressed her cheek.
"Be careful, honey. There are still Imps around. I don't want to lose you," he said softly.
"I'll be back, Dash."
His wife gave him another kiss before she turned and left the cockpit. Seeing Nomi and Wedge board the Aquarius, the former mercenary started the Outrider's engines and launched to fly back to Endor.
The Rogue Squadron commander followed Nomi into the cockpit and took the copilot's seat. Nomi was already sitting in the pilot's seat making the preflight check.
"I saw you gave her a new paint job during your stay here."
His friend nodded her head as she entered Bakura's coordinates.
"Yes, and as you see it comes in handy now. What good is a fake ID if the ship looks like the well-known Aquarius and not an ordinary YT-1300 like the Corellian Pride? After all, we have to fly through areas that are still controlled by the Imps."
She buckled up, started the engines and launched.
They had to make several micro jumps before they would reach the Bakura system. As they fell back into real space near Sluis Van, they saw an Imperial Star Destroyer right in front of them. In a fraction of a minute the comm went off and they were hailed. After Nomi acknowledged the call, they heard a gruff voice with a Coruscanti accent.
"Unidentified Corellian freighter, identify yourself and state cargo and destination."
Wedge looked at Nomi, who was muting the comm so the Imperials couldn't hear what was being said in the cockpit.
"We're done when they send a boarding party," said the commander, noticing the comm unit was blinking, indicating another incoming call.
"Unidentified Corellian freighter, if you don't respond within five standard seconds, we will pull you in."
Wedge activated the transponder to transmit the fake ship ID.
"Sending ID now," he said, muting the comm again. "Let's see if it works."
It didn't take long and the comm unit was blinking again. Seconds later, the Imp's voice shattered all hopes.
"Whoever you are, you cannot be aboard the Corellian Pride. According to our information, the freighter crashed on approach to Fondor two standard days ago. There were no survivors. Prepare to be brought in."
Nomi cut the connection and stared at Wedge. At the same moment, they felt a jolt when the tractor beam caught the Aquarius.
"It's not over yet, Nomi. Give me the controls, I have a plan," Antilles said with a grin.
"Do you have decoy flares on board?"
The young woman nodded her head, getting an idea of Wedge's plan. It would be difficult, but doable. She switched controls to the copilot's console.
"Release them when I say so, Nomi."
Wedge tried to shake off the tractor beam and free the Aquarius from its grip. Through skillful maneuvering he finally succeeded.
"Now!" His command came and Nomi released the decoy flares that drifted towards the Star Destroyer.
The tractor beam caught the decoys and pulled them in instead of the Aquarius. Seeing this, Wedge turned the freighter around, went full throttle, and made the jump into hyperspace.
Nomi let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.
"We...we really did it," she said, looking at her friend with respect. "That was great flying."
"Not something you learn at Skystrike Academy," he said with a grin. "We should avoid further Imperial entanglements. I don't know if I could do this again."
The young woman nodded her head, knowing full well that they had used up the decoy flares on board.
Antilles switched the controls back to the pilot's console and leaned back in his seat.
"Two more micro jumps and we'll reach Bakura."
When they finally reached their destination, they were already expected. It didn't take long and the spare parts were loaded. Nomi handed over the signed receipt. She wished everything had been that easy. The Rogue Squadron pilot walked slowly towards the Aquarius while the loadmaster pocketed the datapad.
Wedge was waiting for Nomi at the Aquarius' hatch. When she walked up the ramp, he made way for her to enter.
"Time to fly back, Nomi," he said, following her into the cockpit after closing the hatch. "I've already set a course. It will be a different route this time so we can avoid another encounter with Imperial forces."
He sat in the copilot's seat, buckled up, and waited for Nomi to do the same.
"Thanks, Wedge," his friend said as she settled into the pilot's seat, buckled up and started the engines.
After receiving permission, she launched the freighter and minutes later, the Aquarius entered hyperspace.
This time it was a trip without any incident.
When they landed on Dagobah, Dash was already waiting for them in the hangar. Load lifters entered the cargo hold after Nomi opened it and began unloading the cargo.
Rendar smiled as he watched his wife walk down the ramp. When she reached the bottom, he took her in his arms and kissed her.
"I'm so glad you're back, darling. Did everything go well?"
"Of course, Dash, when Wedge is involved, nothing can go wrong."
She winked conspiratorially at Antilles, who was coming down the ramp. In her opinion, there was no need to talk about their encounter with the Destroyer. That would only upset her husband.
Wedge nodded and left the hangar without a word, leaving the couple alone.
Nomi and Dash walked arm in arm to their quarters, where Leia was waiting for them with the triplets.
"Hello, Leia, I hope those three didn't annoy you."
Leia rose and headed for the door.
"No, you have really nice children, Nomi. I think I'd better leave you two alone now."
Dash hugged his wife after the princess left.
"Finally we're alone. I missed you so much, Nomi."
"I was only gone four standard days."
He kissed her tenderly and put his hand on her belly.
"It felt like an eternity. How is our daughter?"
"I think she's fine. She is much calmer than her brothers. This pregnancy is very different from the previous one, no nausea and Tasherit doesn't kick like her brothers."
The young woman yawned.
"We should go to bed," Dash said, noticing the yawn. "Our sons are already asleep."
It didn't take long and they had prepared for the night and climbed in bed. Dash took his wife in his arms and was glad she was back safe and sound.