"You're right, I do hate this plan," Nova grumbled, aggressively flicking the controls in her cockpit.
By the time she and Poe had boarded their fighters, another ship had joined the First Order's entourage. A Siege Dreadnought, larger than any ship they had faced before, and far more powerful. Armed to the teeth with cannons capable of picking them off in a second.
BB-8 shared in Nova's scepticism, beeping nervously to his pilot.
"Happy beeps here, guys, come on," Poe said, sounding as confident and devil-may-care as he usually did when faced with danger. "We've pulled crazier stunts than this."
"That supposed to be comforting?" Nova muttered to herself.
"Just for the record, Commander Dameron," Leia cut in, "I'm with the droid on this one."
"Thank you for the support, General," Poe deadpanned, letting out a heavy sigh. "Happy beeps."
"I'm not pulling you out if this goes wrong," Nova said pointedly, shifting in her seat. Her gaze flickered to her ship's systems, watching her newly installed overdrive thruster come online.
The technology was still experimental for the Resistance, and as such was only installed on two ships – Poe's and Nova's.
Poe had eagerly volunteered to test it, ever enthusiastic to make his ship the fastest in the Resistance fighter corps – to the surprise of no one. Nova had then volunteered her own fighter, stating she would need it if she wanted any hope of keeping Poe's 'reckless ass' out of too much trouble.
A notion he had scoffed at but deep down could not deny.
"Lucky for you, that won't be necessary," he said.
Nova sighed. "Let's just get this done and get outta here."
A brief silence followed while they waited for the Finalizer to accept their call. The static soon subsided, and the line was open.
"Attention. This is Commander Poe Dameron and Captain Nova of the Republic fleet. We have an urgent communique for General Hugs."
A reply came quickly – it seemed the enemy general could not resist the bait.
"This is General Hux of the First Order. The Republic is no more. Your fleet are rebel scum and war criminals. Tell your precious princess there will be no terms. There will be no surrender."
Nova grimaced at the malice in his voice.
Poe was unphased. "Hi, I'm holding for General Hugs."
"This is Hux," he spat. "You and your friends are doomed! We will wipe your filth from the galaxy!" Evidently, he liked hearing himself talk.
"Okay; I'll hold."
"You're insane," Nova muttered.
"I know. Shut up."
"Hello?" Hux sounded as though the wind had been taken out of his sails; an unfamiliar sensation to him.
"Still here," Nova assured, her own tone one of boredom.
"Can you – can they hear me?"
Poe continued. "Hugs? With an 'H'? Skinny guy, kinda pasty?"
Hux's patience was wearing thin. "I can hear you. Can you hear me?"
"Look, we can't hold forever. If you reach him, tell him Leia has an urgent message for him."
Nova chewed the inside of her cheek, watching her metre go from yellow to green.
Poe was not finished. "About his mother."
The final nerve was struck as Hux roared the command to open fire.
That was all the time they had needed.
"Punch it!"
Seconds later, the X-Wings leapt forward at sub-light speeds, heading directly for the Dreadnought.
The force and shock of the jump sent Nova back in her seat. She managed to keep the breath within her, grounding herself as here gloved hands wrapped around her steering yoke and weapons systems.
There was little time to adjust before the fighters were in range of the Dreadnought, jumping back to a controlled speed. A barrage of green fire engulfed them in an instant from every surface turret the enemy ship had.
"Woah! That's got a kick!" Poe exclaimed. "Nova, you know what to do."
"Sure do."
"Tallie, start your approach."
"Copy that!" Lieutenant Tallie Lintra replied.
Poe and Nova skimmed the surface of the mammoth ship, swooping around in front of the Dreadnought's bridge, surely shaking the transparisteel.
The guns followed them, unable to keep up with or get a lock on their targets. No tech team had thought to design them to accommodate for such high speeds from an enemy fighter.
The pilots found a rhythm to the guns, dancing between the assault. Eyes narrowing, their fingers squeezed their triggers, leaving nothing but debris and flames in their wake.
Two down. Then Three. Then five.
It was almost too easy, Nova thought.
"One cannon left," Poe reported triumphantly – prematurely. The incoming squadron of TIE fighters gave a bitter dose of reality. "And here comes the parade."
"Great," Nova muttered through gritted teeth. "I'll peel off; see how manoeuvrable they really are."
"Copy that. Be careful!"
"Stay sharp, Bee!"
Breaking from the path, she headed for the underside of the dreadnought, closely pursued by at least half of the enemy's squadron. At least that part of her half-planned plan was a success.
BB-6 did not seem to be a fan either way, frantically whirring and coming as close to screaming as a droid was able to.
"We're taking the scenic route," Nova said, throwing the X-Wing into a sharp dive.
Most of the TIE fighters were nimble enough to follow. But not all of them were so lucky, with the unfortunate few crashing head-on into the large cannons situated on the belly of the beast. Little damage was done, but it was a start at thinning the herd.
Her next move was to head back to the top, continuing to hug the surfaces of the Dreadnought as close as she could without getting blasted into oblivion. She lost a couple more TIEs on the way, leaving them broken on the edges of the ship they had been called to defend.
It was not all smooth sailing however, as a string of curses came over the comms from Poe.
"Beebee-Ate, my weapons systems are down! We need to take out that last cannon or our bombers are toast. Work your magic, buddy! Nova, keep 'em occupied?"
"What d'you think I've been doing?" she bit back, looping over her attackers to take them out from behind. "How long d'you need?"
"As long as you can give me!"
Nova made another pass below the ship, just in time to see the heavy auto cannons fire off four shots towards the surface. She swallowed, continuing her trajectory through the flames.
Leia's voice was the next to come – the evacuation completed without casualty. "You did it, Poe. Now get your squad back here so we can get out of this place."
Poe was quick to protest. "No, General, we can do this! We have the chance to take down a Dreadnought!"
Nova pulled up hard, avoiding following Poe through a tight and deadly gap that left two TIE fighters flayed.
"These things are fleet killers! We can't let it get away!"
"Disengage now, Commander. That is an –" the line went dead, cut short by Poe before the reprimand could conclude.
The fire in Nova's blood bubbled dangerously. "Are you seriously doing this right now?"
"Do not disengage, Nova! You know we have to do this!" Poe's voice held as much agitation as hers. "Let's go, Beebee-Ate, it's now or never!"
Nova forced herself to restrain any further opinionated or unpleasant comments she had lined up for him.
Without a second to spare, Poe's weapon systems were brought back online. The killing blow was landed, sending the final cannon up in smoke. He swung around and accelerated through the flames, bringing himself out behind the final two TIE fighters that he and Nova were able to execute together.
Nova rolled her eyes at Poe's cheers. Despite his ego and current outburst of self-righteousness, she could never dispute the fact that he had the skills to back it up. He was a damn good pilot.
Celebration was short lived. The battle was not yet over.
"All clear! Bring the bombs!"