Chapter Text
6
The battered warships had finally reached Sluis Van and were undergoing repairs as quickly as they could be performed on some of the ancillary maintenance docks. Other vessels that had been there longer received priority status for repair, and so there was little for the pilots to do.
“Owen was asking about you again,” Linna told Dorset while the three A-Wing pilots were eating breakfast five days after the attempted capture of Swift Liberty. “Owen” was one of the B-Wing pilots aboard Swift Liberty, formerly a member of Mon Remonda’s fighter group, and Linna had tried to set Dorset up with him then as well. Linna’s own relationship with Owen’s wingmate, Nir Pulastra, wasn’t clear yet either but they were certainly making the most of their time on Liberty.
Owen had a lanky build befitting a bomber pilot, with almond brown hair and gray eyes. Dorset liked blue most of all colors, but she’d still found plenty of spark in them when they were dancing back on Remonda… Linna had kept on talking, and Dorset blinked back to reality.
“We could do a double date,” she told Dorset sweetly. “C’mon, it’ll be fun and life can be short.”
“I think we learned that pretty well at Selaggis,” Radie cut in with the slightest hint of criticism.
“Right, sorry.” Linna looked mollified. “I forget that sometimes, having been around longer.”
Radie chuckled to herself and shrugged.
“It’s okay. She’s not wrong, Dors, it could be a good way to get your mind off combat. I’m trying to move on after 18 months, but I don’t regret a minute of what I had. Besides, this is easier for you two. The odds aren’t exactly in my favor that Bell would be interested, you know?” Radie said with a bitter smile. “It’s best that I wait until this combat cycle ends but you don’t have to.”
Dorset pondered it for a moment before shaking her head. “Tell him I’m flattered, but I’m not as good at splitting focus as you. It’s more full throttle for me, and flying is always going to be the most important part of life. I wouldn’t mind spending more time with him and Nir, but anything serious will have to wait. Besides, he flies a B-Wing. Owen did let me take lead when we were dancing, at least, but he’ll need something better than that bomber if he hopes to keep up.”
The trio all laughed at that - of course they thought A-Wings were the best snubfighter around, and that put them among the best pilots in the fleet. Other pilots could disagree and be wrong.
***
While Radie wasn’t too happy that they were again on a standby posture, the break from action gave them a chance to practice more and help the pilots permanently aboard Swift Liberty train more. The Imperial fleet had abandoned the relative truce, but there still weren’t large-scale battles to fight in yet. And the sabacc rumor Mirax relayed of new Imperial leadership had grown cold.
Radie had always maintained her skepticism of the claim the Empire had some grand admiral in charge now. Dorset had been worried by it, but she remembered the confusion after Endor as a resident of Coruscant. There had even been a fanciful story that Palpatine would be succeeded by some three-eyed son. Instead, Isard had killed her way to the throne - but now she was dead too and the idea of a unified Empire perished as well. Most Imps were only out for themselves.
At least, that was how it had seemed up until a few weeks ago. Then the enemy forces got their act together, regrouped in the quarter of the galaxy they still held, and began fighting cohesively once more. NRI still hadn’t identified why, but it forced the New Republic fleet to respond in kind.
So that brought Dorset back into a combat simulator, except she was flying a TIE Interceptor against some of Liberty’s newer pilots in Z-95s Headhunters and BTL Y-Wings. Okay kids - it’s time to go to dogfighting school, Dorset thought as she smirked beneath her full black helmet.
The squint, as it was known in New Republic parlance, could outpace anything except A-Wings. It was why the Rebellion had developed its own interceptor; Dorset would be able to fly circles around even X-Wings in a squint. She’d done it before in sims, and planned to do so here again.
Solo once said interceptor pilots were either brave or crazy, probably both. I wish that would fit as a tattoo. Y-Wings may make history and X-Wings make holos, but A-Wings break records.
A chime from the simulator marked the beginning of their exercise, and Dorset filed her thoughts of A-Wing superiority away for later. She was flying with Radie, Linna, Commander Mayn, Tyria, and Captain Tabanne, who was still recovering from her injuries at Atravis but had asked to fly.
Their six TIE Interceptors and eight computer-controlled TIE Fighters would be pitted against two half-squadrons of Z-95s and Y-Wings attempting to attack part of the Kuat shipyards. She had fought in the actual capture of Kuat, so this would be an interesting reversal for her.
It was a particularly timely exercise as well - while none of them would be participating, Dorset had learned that Admiral Krane was about to lead a strike on the Imperial shipyard at Rendili. They wouldn’t be able to hold the yard given its proximity to the fleet at Corellia, but damaging the overhaul and repair facilities could set the Empire’s resurgent war effort back considerably.
I’m surprised I was able to hear about that, given the rumor that there’s a leak among the fleet.
“Incoming contacts at two-zero-five,” Mayn told them - the Y-Wings were inbound on a bombing run, with the Z-95s escorting them. The Headhunter still remained a capable fighter in the right hands, but these pilots didn’t have the experience to successfully engage an equal number of Interceptors. This will be like the lesson Janson gave me at Folor - don’t get too overconfident.
The third Headhunter in line rapidly filled Dorset’s viewport as they neared the merge point, both fighters closing at full speed. She carefully twisted to port, dodging its opening fire, and blasted away with a series of green laser shots that slipped through its shield and severed the left wing.
Now crippled, the Z-95 corkscrewed to the right - its remaining engine was still at full power and there was no way to control the fighter without an emergency shutdown. The novice pilot failed to complete that in time, and then the antiquated fighter exploded against the shipyard docks.
Nosing over to target the formation from the rear, Dorset bracketed the now unguarded Y-Wing and stitched fire into its central section behind the cockpit. The astromech took a few shots and was reduced to scrap before her lasers struck the power generator and blew the bomber apart.
That’s two. Radie would say this is like carving a ryshcate. And she’s about to pick off another Z-95 herself. Hopefully most of these pilots don’t see any real action again for a long time.
One Headhunter pilot was distinguishing themself well at least, managing to engage both Tyria and Atril together. Dorset thought about challenging that pilot to a head-to-head duel, but then saw even more interesting targets - four B-Wings dropping in toward the eight computer-flown TIE Fighters which had been hanging back to protect the shipyard’s center as missile pickets.
“You out there, Owen and Nir?” Dorset asked after switching her comm channel to the clear.
The pair of B-Wings in front rocked their stubby side wings in response, and Dorset smiled as she punched in the code for a direct channel to Linna. The others had control of the situation.
“Let’s go get them - this is my kind of double date,” Dorset told Linna, pushing the throttle to full.
On flimsi, this wasn’t a fair fight - even when their two TIE Interceptors were joined by the six remaining TIE Fighters. The B-Wing was slower and less agile, yes, but it had shields and more armament with 12 torpedoes to their four. Dorset and Linna would just have to be better pilots. That wasn’t guaranteed, either - Owen and Nir were veterans of the Zsinj campaign too.
The biggest danger was in their head-to-head closure, where the TIEs would have to rely on speed to avoid a killshot and the B-Wings’ shields would be strongest. Linna had switched to a comm channel with Nir briefly, and Dorset wondered if they were placing some wager on this.
She shook her head and focused on the other B-Wing in the pair. Her TIE Interceptor was doing most of the work in bringing them together quickly, flying at three times the B-Wing’s speed, and Dorset began juking wildly as Owen fired with his ion and standard laser cannons. She offered a few shots of her own to keep him on his toes, but knew they wouldn’t punch through the shields.
Linna’s TIE barely made it through a near shot that shredded part of its left upper wing array, but Dorset managed to guide hers through unscathed. Owen wasn’t trying to throw the dogfight so she’d have an easy win either, and she grinned at the challenge. Dorset liked these challenges.
She throttled down and mashed the brakes, yanking the joystick back so her Interceptor rolled into a bruising loop that pressed her against the pilot’s seat. Now Dorset was half-a-klick behind Owen’s B-Wing and closing, though he started weaving back and forth to evade as much of her fire as possible. Given their current speeds, she only had 10 seconds to come up with a killshot before she’d shoot out in front of him. At the rate I’m draining his rear shields, Owen won’t want me back here even that long. So what’s he likely to do next? What would I do in an A-Wing?
Dorset smirked as a thought came to her, and she armed one of her four concussion missiles to detonate three seconds after being fired. I sure hope I got the math right, and that he didn’t have some other skifter up his sleeve. Otherwise I’ll look very foolish in front of him - and everyone.
The B-Wing wobbled slightly as she closed within 100 meters, and the way its shields flickered meant they were about to collapse. Owen would be desperate, knowing she could finish him off with that kind of time, and so he’d try to shake her by feinting left and right… Got you, Nordan.
Dorset dumb-fired her concussion missile, letting transferred inertia carry it forward, and pushed back up to full power. Corkscrewing wildly to keep Owen from getting a lock, she watched as he carried out his planned move of hitting the brakes - and slammed into her missile as it went off.
A quick check of the sensor board showed that Nir was still active - his early strike on Linna’s wing panel had left her Interceptor about as agile as his heavy fighter and allowed him to vape her within a few passes. Those still brought significant damage to his B-Wing, and Dorset was able to swing behind him and finish him off with little difficulty. That’s four, and I avenged my wingmate of course. The exercise ended before she could become a full simulator ace, though.
***
Hopping out of the TIE sim pod, Dorset unbuckled her helmet and ran a hand through her black hair to get it back in a semblance of order. It was usually mussed to begin with, and the Imperial helmet had left it straggly and matted with sweat. She drank some water from a bottle left next to the pod, then splashed a bit over her face as well before unzipping her flightsuit halfway.
“You need to learn to dodge better,” Dorset told Linna teasingly as the pilot from Naboo exited her pod, looking amused that she’d been vaped. “I settled things, though - that was a lot of fun.”
Radie smiled at them as well, but one of the Rover Squadron pilots - a gray-furred Bothan with dark yellow eyes named Vek Dy’la - had come over from his sim pod and was glaring at Dorset.
“I bet you had fun in a TIE. Probably reminds you of growing up on Imperial Center, you schu-”
“Watch your kriffing mouth, nugget,” Radie snarled before he could finish the Rodian curse, as she tapped her lieutenant’s rank pin and reminded him he was still a trainee. “Dorset’s trying to teach you to be better so you stay alive, and she has already lost a lot of friends to the Empire. As have I. But if you’re not scared to face a real battle, keep talking. See where it gets you.”
Dorset relaxed slightly, glad Radie seemed to have the situation - and her own temper - mostly under control. She was worried her friend might fight Dy’la if really provoked, since his claws could be very dangerous. Not to mention the damage to Radie’s career, of course.
“There a problem here?” Atril interjected as she leaned against her sim pod, helmet in one hand while the other adjusted her hair back into a bun. Whatever retort the Bothan had planned to fire at Radie quickly died - he was willing to backtalk a lieutenant, but not a captain from Coruscant. Other pilots from the exercise were watching as well, and Dy’la stormed off instead.
Dorset glanced around, checking whether the rest of Liberty’s pilots were eyeing her reprovingly as well. Most went back to their conversations, with Atril and Tyria talking to Lyyr - the Z-95 pilot who had held them off during the simulator run. At least she was showing promise.
“Don’t worry about Vek,” Owen said - of course Linna was leading him and Nir over to Dorset. “He’s got a big mouth but dull claws; we’re fairly confident that Fey’lya keeps him on retainer to stir up trouble among the fleet and pass along political intel. Captain Sedgwik only puts up with him because of appearances and his friends on staff at the Provisional Council.”
Dorset smiled and nodded. “I’ve dealt with someone like that before, back at Folor Base. You get used to it when you’re from Coruscant. They don’t bother me any more.”
Linna patted her on the shoulder anyway, then caught Nir’s eye as she sniffed her flightsuit.
“I’m gonna go shower,” she told them nonchalantly, wandering off without further goodbyes.
Nir was inventing a reason he also had to leave within a minute, while Dorset and Owen both rolled their eyes and stayed behind sheepishly. Thanks a lot, Linna.
“At least they use her room most of the time,” Owen told her with a scowl. “I’m going on alert duty soon, though, so who knows today. Anyway, I wanted to say I understand your priorities about putting flight ahead of anything else right now. You did pretty well in sims back there.”
Dorset nodded again with a smile. “That braking trick will probably work on less experienced pilots, so don’t give up on it because I beat it. Maybe we can do this again sometime.”
She watched Owen head to the hangar and his real B-Wing after that, her expression wry. Of course I did well back there - I vaped you, didn’t I? Still, Linna made sure he knew how to win me over by complimenting my flying. If he’d said I looked pretty, I would’ve laughed and called him a liar. Dorset glanced again at her reflection in the canopy glass, utterly bemused by it all.