05. Back in the Saddle Again

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'Yes,' Jysella cheered. The comlink let out a series of small blips. She was finally in range to make contact.

She kept one hand on the flight controls and reached out with her other. She turned the comlink on and prayed that someone would be on the other end.

Jysella looked up. The base was looming closer and closer. She could even make out the orange jumpsuit of the X-Wing pilots below. Many of the people on the ground were congregating in groups as they noticed the chase happening above.

'This is agent nine-three-two requesting permission to land. Authorisation code nine-five-victor-victor...two.' She winced hoping it was right, her mind wasn't exactly in a great place to remember codes. A gravelly voice replied after a few moments. 'Agent please repeat the authorisation code.' Jysella growled.

'I don't have time, I need to land now, my fuel tanks are running on empty and I have two fighters on my six.' Jysella flicked a toggle above her head and deployed the landing gear. Guess I'll have to give you the code when I get down there. As she suspected the tread for the left brace came flying away from the array without any support to keep it there.

Jysella pressed her knees against the dashboard and pulled back on the thrusters as much as she could. They were still coming in too fast. The ground crew raced out of the path of the falling ship.

'Hold on buddy,' she called out to the droid. K5 let out a weary bleep and burrowed his mechanical arm even further into the inner hull. The TIE fighter shook with the turbulence. Jysella stomach leapt into her throat. Her fingers slipped from the controls. She held onto the armrest, her knuckles straining.

The fighter hit the ground. They spun around several times. Jysella was jolted backwards and forwards in her seat. Her arms flailed uncontrollably. A piercing screech filled the air and as the solar arrays dragged along the tarmac. Sparks flew from the friction of the array dragging across the ground. The fighter stopped spinning and it skidded along the last third of the tarmac before it began to slow down.

Jysella could now make out some panicked and confused voices. A TIE fighter at a resistance base was certainly a strange sight. In the chaos she felt it. Poe was here. She could have cried at the relief she felt. All she wanted to do was run into his arms.

A few more seconds passed as the fighter came to a juddering stop. A cloud of grey smoke was beginning to seep from the engines. Her head swam. Jysella groaned and spat out the bile rising in her throat. She didn't want to be in this glorified eyeball any longer. Jysella mumbled as she got out from her seat. 'I would kill for some Caf right now.' She narrowed her eyes and paused for a moment, her hand hovering over the release for the door. She couldn't see anything from the viewport, the smoke was obscuring her view.

There was no doubt in her mind that at least one person would be holding a weapon ready for when she came out. 'No time like the present.' Jysella shook her head and pressed the button to open the viewport.

Tears began to run down her face as the smoke hit her eyes. She coughed. Jysella pulled the neckline of her shirt up over her mouth and nose. It didn't do much to help. She walked slowly away from the wrecked ship. The view of the resistance base grew clearer. Every eye on the tarmac was on her. And as she suspected several people were positioned at a safe distance with their blasters aimed right at her.

She slowly raised her good arm above her head in a placating gesture. Jysella scanned the group hoping for a familiar face behind of the blasters. She could have sworn that ex Stormtrooper was in the crowd somewhere. She sensed a few of the people holding the blasters tense as she got closer. One of them stepped forward.

'Kneel with your hands behind your head'. The person shouting the orders was a young male officer with light brown skin and long hair braided back from his face. From the markings on his uniform he was a lieutenant. Jysella sighed and reluctantly followed the orders. Though she kept her sprained wrist cradled to her side.

She called out to the group. 'Can someone do me a huge favour and get General Organa here. Or Admiral Statura.' As she suspected no one made any reply or acknowledgement of her request. '...Or better yet any senior officer from the command station.' Her patience was wearing thin and her head was banging. 'And possibly a medic.' Jysella spat out some blood. She must have bit her tongue when they landed. The coppery tang made her desperately wish for some water.

Then there was the muffled sound of boots hitting the tarmac, the noise was coming from the hanger bay. The murmuring voices got louder. She strained her hearing. She slowly looked to the left, not wanting to draw any fire with any sudden movements. She met eyes with the man leading the small group. He stepped back in shock.

It was Snap Wexley. When Jysella came to the resistance he was her bunk mate. He was a large man with abundant facial hair and a kind face.

'Jysella?'

'Nice day for a fly isn't it." Jysella looked to him with a genuine smile. Her smile turned into a grimace. 'Could you uh...' Jysella nodded her head to the group of people with their blasters aimed at her. Snap snapped himself out of his reverie and held his hand out to the group.

'Stand down.' Snap waved them off. The group slowly dispersed after their superior officer made no move to address them again. 'You look half dead Jysella.' He held out a hand to her.

'Yeah I feel like it too.' She grasped his callused hand in hers.

'You certainly made an entrance.' He breathed a laugh and heaved from her kneeling position.

'Yeah well my choice of transportation was kind of limited.' She stumbled for a moment and righted herself. Snap held her shoulders keeping her upright. He hunched down a few inches to her eye line.

'You okay Sel'?'

'Just landed a little harder than I expected.' Jysella took a deep breath and shook her head to clear her vision. She was about to speak up again before a clang reverberated from the TIE fighter. K5 came rolling out, muttering about some damage to his optic processors. Jysella looked back at Snap. She let herself go for a moment and rested her forehead on his broad chest.

'It's good to see you Snap'. He wrapped his arms around her. He loosened the hug and held her gaze. 'Where the hell have you been all these years Jysella, the General didn't tell us anything.' The reply was almost automatic.

'Classified.' She fought the small grin fighting to appear.

'That's how it is Sarkin?' Snap raised a brow at her smirk.

'I'm afraid so Wexley," Jysella adopted a more serious tone. 'When this whole mess is over I'll tell you more.'

'Does it have anything to do with the First Order's new weapon?'

'It might have,' Jysella drawled. She twiddled with her fingers before asking the question that was biting at her. 'So how many people...'

'The whole of the Hosnian system. Gone in seconds,' said Snap through gritted teeth. 'The General thinks they'll target our system next. It's been getting harder and harder to conceal our presence here'

'Where is she anyway?'

'On her way back from Takodana. Just got back myself.' He gestured to the full flight gear that he had yet to change out of.

'Well if they are targeting this system let's hope the intel that I have will move the pieces even more in our favour.' Jysella squared her shoulders and began walking quickly to the command bunker. Snap followed her. 'Command is still in the same place... right? I need to talk to Admiral Statura.'

'Sure is. Not much has changed 'round here since you left. Poe missed you.' The guilt hit her like a fist to the face. Jysella blinked.

'I know that Snap, I -' She was interrupted by an incessant beeping. She whirled around to black and silver droid. 'Yes, you're coming with us K5! Just don't talk to anyone, which goes for other droids too.' She rolled her eyes before setting off again.

They fell back into step dodging various personnel running back and forth from command. The droid quietly followed behind them. Jysella thought back to Poe again.

'Do you not think I know that Poe missed me Snap?"

'I know, I know.' He held up his hands. 'It was just hard on him that's all.' They both stepped out of the way as a maintenance droid passed. Jysella let out a resigned sigh.

'It was hard on me too.' Snap rubbed her shoulder in comfort before he announced their presence to the room. All eyes around the table turned to her. She had clearly interrupted whatever discussion Statura was having with Admiral Ackbar. Ackbar addressed her first. 'It must say it's a shock to see you're here Agent Sarkin. We received no word from your contacts.'

'I was in a bit of a rush Admiral.'

'I agree, the TIE fighter crashed outside tells us as much.' Statura remarked. Not wanting to dawdle any longer she retrieved the computer spike from the confines of the pouch sown into the lining of her boots.

'Sir this should help you identify how the weapon may have been built and its approximate location in the Unknown Regions. I tried to get what information I could before I made my escape. There has to be something on there that we can use.'

'Thank you, Captain. I'll go over the Intel with my best analysts now,' he nodded to her in a sign of respect. Statura then took the tech from her with a bow of his head and rushed out of the room.

She wrinkled her face in confusion. 'When exactly did I become I Captain?' She turned to Snap. 'I do not need more responsibilities around here.'


'I wouldn't know. Your work was classified remember. Was it worthy of a promotion?' Snap tried to dig some details from her. She shook her head in amazement. I'm a Captain now?


With her information safely delivered she now thought of her own squadron. Jysella was a member of Wraith squadron. Her team wasn't exactly the shining star of the Resistance, but she wouldn't choose any other team to be with in a dogfight. The squadron was well known for admitting more... eccentric pilots into its ranks over the years. The wraiths were created to fulfil the duties of a traditional X Wing squadron and a commando unit. The founders of the squadron were Wes Janson and her handler Wedge Antilles. Both were legends in the history of the Resistance and the Rebel Alliance. She posed her thoughts to Snap.


'You seen the Wraiths around at all?'

'Haven't seen 'em in months.' Jysella frowned, they must be on a mission somewhere. She exhaled and plopped down into a chair near the main tactics station. The main screen on the station was following the course of the other teams deployed to Takodana. Snap followed her gaze to the board.


'ETA five minutes.' Jysella tensed at his remark and clasped her hands together to prevent herself from fidgeting. He clapped her shoulder.


'I'll get us some Caf.' She patted his hand and sent a thankful look his way.

Jysella leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes and took a few moments to collect her thoughts. When she opened her eyes again Snap was sitting across from her. She gratefully took the lukewarm drink from him and took a few gulps. He also tossed her a small metal tube he had retrieved from a nearby first aid station. It was a gel brace for her wrist. She thanked him and lined the blinking green lights from the tube on her wrist. She then released the cap on the small tube. The tool whirred before secreting a cool gel-like substance around her arm. It hardened to form a temporary cast.


They both sat in silence until they heard the ping on the commutations array. Jysella downed the last of her drink and tossed it into a compactor droid. She took that moment to look for K5. She craned her neck, the droid was nowhere in sight. She let out an exasperated huff. Threepio is in for a shock if he ever meets K5. The commutations array pinged again.


'You ready to see him?' Snap and Jysella matched each other's steps as they made their way outside the bunker.


'If you want get technical I've already seen him.' Jysella didn't meet his eyes. '...But he didn't see me exactly.'


'Let me guess. Classified? '


'Sharp as a hydrocutter as usual Temmin.' She playfully whacked him on the chest.


In under two minutes they were back in the chaos outside of the hanger bays. Jysella stopped and almost tripped over her own feet into Wexley. She steadied herself and blinked in disbelief.


'The Millennium Falcon,' she breathed. She hadn't seen this ship in years. She narrowed her eyes again and spotted the shaggy, towering figure of Chewbacca. She had met the Wookie a handful of times and she always enjoyed being in his presence. If Chewbacca's here that means he and Han must have stolen his ship back.


'Yeah I didn't believe it either.' Snap admired the legendary ship for a moment and then nudged her back into step. Jysella could barely hide the growing joy on her face. She couldn't wait to jump into Poe's arms and relish in the few moments of stillness she would have with him.


She and Snap watched as his black X Wing descended smoothly onto the tarmac with the rest of Blue squadron. Jysella instantly recognised person in the X Wing closest to them. It was Jessika Pava. She and Jessika had met a year into Jysella's arrival at the Resistance base. They hit it off after she fixed Jessika's sonic shower in her dorm.


Jysella found herself drawn to her friend. She had missed Jessika dearly. The cockpit was open, and Jessika was powering down the Starfighter. Jysella walked up behind her as she was exiting the craft. Jysella smiled as Jessika turned around.


'Holy Kriff.' The younger woman squeaked and tripping over the last rung of the small stairway attached to the X Wing. Her mouth dropped. She clumsily threw her arms around Jysella. Jysella hugged the small woman back just as tight.

'You missed an epic dogfight out their Sarkin.' Jessika gave a soft punch to her shoulder. Jysella smiled.


'I'm glad you all came back safe.' She had made sure to do a count as Blue squadron landed on the tarmac. All the ships were accounted for.


'Poe made us all look like a bunch of first year recruits out there.' She shrugged. 'But what else is new.' Jessika then smirked at her. 'You seen him yet?'


'Not yet.'


'Well that what are you doing talking to me then, go and get your man,' Jessika gave her a push.


Jysella paused as she made her way to Poe. He was standing in the middle of the tarmac embracing another person. It was that ex Stormtrooper, Finn. For some reason Finn was also wearing Poe's jacket.


Snap and Jessika moved closer together and watched intently for the upcoming reunion. Snap then turned to the smaller woman with a smirk.

'I'm predicting a Rodian Kisses style reunion.'

'You have terrible taste in holodramas Wex',' Jessika scoffed.


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