"So our flyers will engage merely as a distraction to allow you to enter our atmosphere undetected?"
"Correct," I said to Yunish's blue hologram. "I'll patch into your system and relay when we are in the clear. It should be a simple tactic that they won't think much of, but the element of surprise will be on our side once we are ready to fully engage them in our attack."
The leader nodded with a thoughtful look. "And how long do you think it will take before our attack on the fighters?"
"Depends on your pilots honestly. I'd like to only take a few days, but if we need longer then we need longer. I don't want to rush this and anyone else be hurt on my watch."
"Understood. We will be anxiously awaiting your arrival. Thank you, Leia, for sending her our way."
The General spoke from beside me, "Of course, Yunish. You have the Resistance's full support as we have yours. We will speak soon."
The transmission cut out and I turned to the General. "You're sure you're okay for me to leave?" The woman looked tired this morning, and I had picked up on it immediately, much to her annoyance.
"Sienna, I am fine. Please quit asking me."
I held up my hands. "Alright. I'm just worried about you."
She grabbed my hand with a quick squeeze. "Worry about yourself, Rose and your fighters, Lieutenant. There will be plenty of time to fret over me when you return."
I rolled my eyes, but ceased my questioning regardless. We made our way to the hangar so I could suit up, and Rose was already standing at the base of my ship bouncing on the balls of her feet while talking to Tash. The blue-haired woman was sitting in the cockpit looking very out of place.
"Tash, what in stars name are you doing up there?"
Leia laughed as Tash startled. "I just wanted to see what all your fuss was about over these damn ships." She climbed down the ladder, then stood with her hands on her hips as she stared up at the X-wing. "And honestly, I don't get the charm."
I walked over and slung an arm around her shoulders. "That, my friend, is why you aren't a pilot."
"That and the awful uniforms," she said as she flicked the orange material. I scoffed at her, but pulled her into a quick hug nonetheless.
"I'll be back before you know it. Don't cause too much trouble while I'm gone."
She nodded with a bright smile. "You better be, Dreis. I'll make sure to keep Ezra fed so he doesn't get too cranky."
I threw my head back with a laugh, turning to a slightly nervous looking Rose. "Rose, are you ready to go?"
"I am. Both ships are good for takeoff."
"Are you nervous?"
"No!" she answered too quickly. I quirked a brow at her for a moment before she sighed. "Okay, yes. I'm a little nervous."
I grabbed her shoulders and smiled at the young woman as Leia approached our side. "You'll do just fine. This part of our journey will be easy. Once we are prepared to fight them, you'll have all of the tools you need to be successful." I looked over to the General. "Hopefully."
The smile she had crinkled the edges of her eyes with a light laugh. "We all have full faith in you both. Yunish and her pilots will be ready for you to patch over as soon as you're outside of their atmosphere."
"Thank you, Leia." I gave her a hug, holding her tight before turning to Poe's X-wing. Settling into the cockpit, I placed my helmet with a last wave to Tash before the hatch closed. I ran my hand over the panels, flipping the necessary switches to bring the engines to life. A smile made its way to my face as I thought of mirroring Poe's actions in his great ship.
I knocked on the edge of the hatch and Rose looked over, giving me a nod.
"This is Lieutenant Dreis and Rose Tico requesting takeoff clearance," I spoke over the radio.
"Clearance granted."
"Let's get this show on the road." I pulled up on the control, rising through the trees. After a quick glance behind to make sure Rose was following, we headed out and quickly jumped into hyperspeed. "Rose, we are close enough that we will be there in a few minutes at this speed. Just follow my lead once the TIE's are distracted and we should be able to land without any issues."
"Roger that, Lieutenant," Rose responded before Leia's voice cut through the transmission.
"Sienna, we are ready to patch you over to the Devaronians if you're clear."
I dropped out of lightspeed, coming to hover just outside of their system with Rose stopping next to me. "We are ready, General. Talk to you soon." The radio was quiet for a bit, allowing my eyes to scan the sky in front of us. In the distance, I could make out TIE fighters patrolling outside of the Devaron atmosphere.
"Glad to know they have the resources to just have ships sitting idly outside planets to make a point," Rose said with a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah well, we know the Order to be a little... extravagant."
"Evil, egregious, entropic-"
I laughed into the headset, looking over at her ship. "And all of those things, too."
"Doctor Dreis? This is Sarma from Devaronian base. Our flyers are taking off now to draw the Order ships from your entrance port."
"This is Dreis. We will standby until we see the TIE fighters leave the North side. Clear us in for landing." Right as I finished speaking, a small fleet of Devaronian ships came into view, flying circles around the fighters before disappearing on the horizon of the planet. The TIE's were baited into following them.
"Rose, stay close."
We approached the planet, keeping a sharp eye out for any straggling fighters on this side. Thankfully, it was all clear as we entered the atmosphere and were greeted by the tall forests that surrounded the base.
"Wow..." I heard Rose say over the radio as she took in the planet. I chuckled, completely understanding her awe. Everything looked just as I remembered from my first time here.
"Sarma, we are prepared to land. You can call your fighters back."
"Dreis- clear to land."
Our ships gracefully reached the ground, and I opened my hatch before pulling the helmet off and setting it aside. Looking up, I could see the outline of the Devaronians ships as they retreated back to the safety of ground. The TIE's did not follow.
I swung my leg over to the ladder, quickly climbing down. Before my foot left the last step a young voice floated through the hangar.
"Dr. Dreis! You've come back!" I turned to see Keesahn sprinting towards me with his white coat billowing behind him, and a smile lit up my face as I leaned down to meet him with a tight hug.
"I told you I'd see you again!" I held him back to look him over. The coat seemed to not be quite as massive on his frame with his new height. "How have you gotten so tall so quick? You were just a pipsqueak last I saw you."
"I was not! I've been getting bigger! Auntie said I couldn't work on patients until I was bigger, so I've been working on growing."
I caught Rose's eyes as she walked over with her helmet beneath her arm. I shot her a smile as I stood. "Well, you've been doing a great job." I gently turned him. "Keesahn, this is Rose Tico. Rose, this is Dr. Keesahn."
He held out a hand and puffed his chest out. "Pleasure to meet you, Rose Tico." Rose laughed as she grasped his hand with a firm shake.
"Keesahn, they just landed. Give them a second to breathe." I was greeted with a pointy-toothed smile as I turned to face Yunish. Her long white hair was pulled back from her face, showing off the two vestibules on her forehead.
I gave a slight bow. "Yunish, it is lovely to see you again. Though I wish it were under different circumstances."
"As do I, but I am beyond grateful that you have come regardless." Yunish turned to Rose with a nod. "Rose Tico. General Organa has spoken very highly of you."
A light blush made its way up Rose's cheeks. "Thank you. I'm glad I could come help."
Further down the way, the Devaronian fighters had landed after their quick distraction. I watched as five pilots began walking over to your group- four females and one male. I smiled, reminded of how much I loved Devaron's matriarchal society. The five stopped in front of us with straight backs and high chins, bowing slightly to Yunish and myself.
"Lieutenant Dreis, this is your team. It may be small, but these are our best pilots. They will follow your direction without question."
I smiled and nodded at the row. "We've done more with less- this is perfect. It is a pleasure to work with you all." I stepped forward to the left end of the line. "And you are?"
The female regarded me with gold eyes full of fight. "I am Nafay." I bowed slightly to meet hers before stepping over to the next fighter. W'eran, Tigua, Izal and Daak were the others.
I stepped back, beckoning Rose forward. "This is Rose Tico. Between the two of us, we will be able to help you learn the First Order's air fighting tactics." I looked to Yunish. "We have a space we can meet?"
"Of course. Keesahn will show you to your quarters to drop off your belongings and then bring you to the training room."
Keesahn wasted no time grabbing my hand after we had retrieved our bags from the ships. He drug me along as he talked about what all he had been doing in the medical ward to learn from his aunt.
"... she still won't let me use the scalpels though. I only dropped one once and it wasn't even close to her toes!"
I heard Rose snickering behind me at the young boy. I tried my best to stifle my own laughter. "I'm sure she has her reasons, Dr. Keesahn. Don't worry, you'll be off to school and treating patients on your own before you even notice it."
"I sure hope so," he said as we came to a stop outside of the same rooms Poe and I had used last year. "Here you go! I'll wait out here for you so I can lead you to the training room." I entered the room, fondly remembering when Poe had his little acting stint with the young boy. A smile spread across my face, contrasting from the worry that still sat in my chest.
I couldn't help but wonder where the others were on their journey, even though I had vowed to myself not to let their mission distract from my own. There were too many people counting on Rose and I to be distracted.
It wasn't long before Rose and I were standing outside of the training room bidding farewell to Keesahn. He went to leave before turning around quickly.
"Oh! Dr. Dreis I almost forgot! Dr. Sanu asked for you to meet her in her office later if you have time."
"Of course I'll stop by. Tell her we should be done by early evening." The boy ran off as Rose stood by my side.
"Is he wearing one of your old med coats?" she asked curiously.
"That he is. I gave it to him last time I was here."
"You've got a real soft spot for him L-T."
I sighed. "That's why we are here Rose. I would do anything needed to protect him and the others here from harm." With that, I turned to enter the training room to see the five fighters sitting around a large, round table. They all stood as I walked in, pulling a laugh from my chest. "At ease, fighters. No need for formalities around me." They eased into their chairs as Rose and I sat.
"So, Lieutenant, what time tomorrow should we gear up?" Daak asked with eagerness.
I looked at him with a raised brow. "Gear up for what exactly?"
"For our battle of course," Nafay said like it was the most obvious thing. "We've heard stories about you Resistance fighters liking to run into battle and get the job done." I shook my head, leaning forward to place my elbows on the table.
"That would be under Commander Dameron's command, not mine." I stood, tucking my hands behind my back as I circled the table. "Having not fought the Order before, I need to educate you on their fight tactics that we are familiar with. I don't want you going into this blindly like the others before you."
Daak scoffed. "Our ships can outfight theirs, and I know your X-wings can as well."
"While that's all good and well, it doesn't matter what physical weapons we have against them, Daak. Our strongest weapon is up here," I said as I tapped my temple. "They could have the strongest weapons in the galaxy, but we could still outsmart them. That is the goal of why I'm here, and for the next few days, we will be running strategy- both theirs and how ours will combat it."
I locked eyes with Rose who was sitting back in her chair, smiling. I looked around the room. "Any objections?"
"What are we waiting for?" Nafay asked. "Let's get to it."
And so we did. All afternoon consisted of First Order battle techniques that we had learned in the field. There were countless drills and runs that would've been great to review in the sky, but with the TIE fighters surrounding us, visualizing them was the best we could get. We ran through different scenarios of attack from their end, and ways to get out of any tight situations when cornered. I had a group of very competent fliers for which I was grateful.
"Like we discussed, as long as you don't let them latch onto your trail at a close distance, there will always be a way to defeat them," I said as I turned off the projection in front of us. "We will continue with this tomorrow. For now, get some food and rest."
While the others headed to the canteen, I wandered the floating vine bridges to the med ward. The humid air made my hair tangle and frizz, so I pulled it into a braid as I walked. Not much had changed in the year since Poe and I had visited, and I was incredibly grateful for it since our lives had been in a constant state of change.
The antiseptic smell of the ward was an odd comfort for me as I recalled the way to Dr. Sanu's office. The woman was sitting behind her large desk flipping through projections of different plants before settling on one image.
"Nysillin?"
The doctor looked up to my place in the doorway with a large smile. "Correct- one of the most valuable healing herbs in the galaxy."
I returned her smile. "And yet it looks like a child's toy."
Sanu laughed and stood, walking around her desk. We met in the center of her office with a tight embrace.
"It's so good to see you again, Sienna." She stepped back with an arched brow. "Or should I call you Lieutenant?"
I rolled my eyes. "Sienna is just fine, doctor. I have enough people addressing me by title nowadays." We walked over to the chairs by her enormous bookshelf, and I began to settle in while she made tea in the corner. "How has everything been around here?"
"Nice and quiet until recently. Only a few pneumonia-like outbreaks here and there but your treatment-"
"Our treatment," I interrupted.
"Fine- our treatment is still working well in eradicating it. It's back to normal around here." She turned to hand me a cup of the hot tea. "Keesahn has been spending a considerable amount of time with me recently. His mother says if he isn't here, he's in his room reading about diseases and treatments."
"His dedication at his age will never cease to amaze me. I hope he continues to be passionate about medicine as he grows."
"Well," she started as she set her tea down. "Hearing that you hung up your med coat for an X-wing certainly threw him for a loop. I had a number of conversations with him about it. He was quite angry with you to begin with, you know?"
I sighed with a sad smile. "That's understandable. He wasn't the only one confused by my decision."
"Ah, I assume Commander Dameron had something to say about it as well since you are now engaged." She reached forward and grabbed my hand to look at the green stone on my finger before locking eyes with me. "No one on this planet was surprised when this news spread."
"What do you mean?"
Sanu scoffed. "Please, it was completely obvious you both had a connection when you both were here."
I rolled my eyes. "We barely even knew each other back then!"
"You didn't have to. Poe was smitten regardless," she said with a smirk.
"Anyways," I started as we delved into other conversation. I had missed Sanu and our intellectual debates, but loved speaking to her as a friend, not just a colleague. I soaked up the hours with her before retiring to bed.
Tomorrow, the fighters and I would come up with our plan of attack.