Instinctively Dameron pushed forward on the controls and dove right. "I need shields and weapons!"

After his last outburst I felt compelled to remind him that I did not take orders from him, but to my dismay the situation was to urgent for a protracted dispute. I brought the shields online and began powering the dual twin laser cannons.

"What was that?" Leia asked.

"Tie fighters," Dameron said as he scanned the screen. "Looks like four of them. They must have launched as soon the Star Destroyer entered the system."

"But if the Star Destroyer had not located us, how did the fighters find us?" Leia asked.

"They sent them to every planet and moon in the system," I said. "It is a favorite tactic of General Varral."

"Hedging his bets," Dameron said. "The Ties spread out across the system with sensor stealth systems active, all unnoticed while we are focused on the Star Destroyer. Then they can swat down anyone trying to escape."

I growled at my own ineptitude. I'd assumed Snoke would send Hux after me, but I should have known better. After years of serving together aboard the Finalizer, I simply knew Hux too well. I understood how the supercilious General thought. Varral, the marginally competent commander of the Belligerent, would be harder for me to predict. His rudimentary tactics were lacking when compared to Hux's, but I was not intimately familiar with them either. I could not help but wonder how Hux had taken the news he would not be given the opportunity to burn me from the sky.

"It is only four," Dameron said, "but this thing flies like a wounded Bantha." Of course it did. The fighter pilot seemed to forget he was flying a transport. Upsilon shuttles were robust enough to stand up in combat, but were never intended to enter a hostile area unescorted. The shields, though powerful, would not be able to stand up to a sustained bombardment from four Ties.

"Where is the Falcon?" Leia asked.

"Several thousand klicks ahead of us," Dameron responded. "But they are turning around."

I could sense Dameron's confidence. We were at a tactical disadvantage, yet he was more relaxed than he had been on the ground during the evacuation. This was his element, and his faith in his own abilities was absolute.

"If I bring us around, can you target the lasers?" Dameron asked. I was surprised for a moment—the targeting system was woefully simple, and normally a single pilot handled both flying and weapons systems. But in reversionary mode Dameron did not have a free hand to actuate the controls.

"Yes, but how are you going to get them in the weapons employment zone?" I asked. The powerful laser cannons were primarily weapons of intimidation, not combat. They had a firing arc of less than forty degrees, meaning any target had to be more or less in front of the shuttle. It left our flanks dangerous vulnerable to the maneuverable ties.

"Just be ready." Abruptly he brought the left engine to idle power while jamming the right throttle full forward. The shuttle aggressively spun to the left, and I felt myself pressed against my restraints by the growing G-forces. The Ties had been unprepared for such a violent maneuver.

As the formation of fighters came into view, I targeted the lead ship. Our high rate of turn made it difficult to lock onto a target, but I fired a single blast of the laser cannons that incinerated the left solar panels of the lead fighter and its pilot began to break off. Tie Fighters, however, are not known for their robust design. The smoldering solar panel caused the fuel cell for the atmospheric maneuvering thrusters to ignite, blasting the ship apart and sending flaming wreckage through the path of a second fighter.

The second ship was only slightly damaged, but its pilot elected to withdraw leaving us with two opponents. Recognizing the skill of the shuttle's pilot, they were careful to maintain a position that kept them well clear of our weapons. Several laser blasts hit our rear shields as Dameron executed a series of defensive maneuvers.

The smaller, lighter fighters easily kept up with the shuttle, but there fixation on us left them unprepared for the quad laser blasts from the Millennium Falcon. Unlike the glancing blow I had landed on the lead ship, the Falcon's lasers hit dead center on one of the Ties, immediately puncturing the cockpit and venting its atmosphere into space. With a dead pilot and damaged controls, the ship began to veer slowly to its left, where it would likely meet its final demise in an uncontrolled reentry into the moon's atmosphere.

The final fighter realized that two armed ships presented an overwhelming challenge and began maneuvering to withdraw. The Falcon fired several shots after it, but the nimble fighter was able to dodge successfully and soon it was out of range.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Dameron said. "That first shot created a surge that damaged the navigational computer. We can't calculate a hyperspace jump."

"Can the Falcon feed us data?" Leia asked.

Dameron shook his head. "The systems are not compatible. If we had more time… but the Star Destroyer will be here in ten minutes. And that's game over."

"We're on our own, then," Leia said solemnly. She pulled out a hand held communicator. "Organa to Falcon: Precede to the rendezvous coordinates, we will meet you there."

"Wait!" I said more intensely than I intended.

"Falcon, standby."

Dameron called, "they are launching more fighters."

"Move us farther from the moon," I instructed Dameron. I looked at Leia. "Tell the Falcon to proceed, but match speed to a class 1.5 hyperdrive."

Leia was confused for a moment, but she realized what I intended to try. I could tell she didn't like it, but we had not other options. I closed my eyes and reached out to the Force, feeling my way through the galaxy. Its vastness was incomprehensible, millions of clusters, billions of stars, trillions of lives. Amongst that backdrop I had to find a single target, a solitary vessel amongst the backdrop of the cosmos.

I reached for the shuttle's controls, my hand shaking from the mental exertion.

"What are you doing?"

"Do not interfere," I warned. The strain in my voice made it sound alien, even to my own ears. I reached for the hyperspace lever.

"You can't fly manually through hyperspace," Dameron warned. "Trillions of planets, moons, stars, asteroids—all out there waiting to turn us into a flaming hulk when we hit them. Do you know what the chances are of successfully completing a hyperspace jump with no calculations?

"I do not concern myself with odds," I said. And we had calculations: the Falcon's.

"Let him try," Leia said calmly.

"He can barely fly this thing normally," Dameron protested, "How is he going to hand fly in hyperspace."

"The Force is a powerful ally," Leia said simply.

There it was, several light years ahead. The Millennium Falcon. I could feel her crew, their anxiety, their concern, all evident through the Force. But most importantly, I could feel their location. Without hesitation I pushed the hyperspace lever forward.


A/N: Some more action for this chapter. Thanks again to everyone who has read, followed, and favorited. Reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated—always motivational to get the next chapter our and extremely useful to get feedback on the writing itself! Especially interested in folks thoughts Poe/Kylo dynamic; that has been an interesting balancing act to write—there is no love between those two, but they are both mission driven!

Thanks again, and have a great one!