Chapter Two
Snug in the X-wing simulator cockpit, Colonel Gavin Darklighter, Rogue
Squadron's commanding officer, flicked his right thumb against the ring he wore
on that hand. Apprehension gripped him, but he knew there was no sense in
stalling a second longer. He glanced over his shoulder at the R2-Delta astromech
droid sitting behind him. "Okay, Catch, run the simulation designated
'skipchaser.'"
The little gold-and-white droid tootled pleasantly, and the simulator cockpit
came alive with lights and data scrolling on the primary screen. Despite the
years of refits the little droid had undergone in Gavin's service—including
requisite memory wipes and programming upgrades—it always greeted him with a
brief summary of the weather on Tatooine and Coruscant. Gavin appreciated that
little bit of pleasantry, which is why he'd not traded the droid in for a newer
model—though the Delta upgrade had been most welcome for speeding up
navigational computations.
The biggest change in his relationship with the droid had been its name. In the
early days he'd called it Jawaswag, figuring that any Jawa would love to have
the droid. Later, after the Thrawn ... read full excerpt from: SW: NJO: Dark Tide Onslaught ebook
