Chapter Nineteen: The Battle of Yavin

Free of the planet's atmosphere, the two squadrons of Rebel fighters began their approach. Cal felt his hands sweat inside his gloves as he gripped the stick. He had never flown a ship in space before, but Seek swore it was just like flying the T-16s they had on Tatooine. Only this wasn't Tatooine, and if he screwed up here he would die.

His cockpit brightened with the deep orange glow of Yavin, and Cal took a second to look up at the gas giant as they flew past it.

"All wings report in," Red Leader ordered over the comm.

"Red Ten, standing by."

"Red Seven, standing by."

Cal turned his eyes forward, and as the other pilots sounded off, he saw the dark shape of the Death Star emerge from the planet's shadow. They were still far enough away that he couldn't make out the battle stations many spires, trenches, and lights. He couldn't see the hangar bays or even the smooth, circular depression that he assumed was the source of the Death Star's massive turbo laser. For a moment he could almost believe it was just a moon.

"Red Two, standing by."

"Red Eleven, standing by."

Cal swallowed hard and returned his attention to the X-wing. "Red Five, standing by."

Red Leader's voice came over the comm again. "Lock S-foils in attack position."

Cal obeyed immediately, blood pumping through his veins so fast he thought he might faint. He braced himself for the next stage of their attack and nearly jumped out of his skin when the ship started to vibrate. His first thought was that they'd been caught in the Death Star's tractor beam, but Red Leader quickly put those fears to rest.

"We're passing through the magnetic field. Hold tight! Switch your deflectors on, double front."

Cal scanned the controls and flipped on the deflectors. He readjusted his grip on the stick and licked his lips.

"Look at the size of that thing!" a voice broke in. It sounded like the Corellian pilot Seek had introduced him to.

"Cut the chatter, Red Two," their leader ordered. "Accelerate to attack speed."

Cal increased speed as the X-wings ahead of him started to pull away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Y-wing squadron begin their descent toward the battle station.

"This is it, boys," Red Leader said.

Cal took several deep breaths as he awaited his next order. He didn't care what Seek said – so far, this was definitely not like piloting a T-16.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader."

"I copy, Gold Leader."

"We're starting for the target shaft now."

"We're in position," Red Leader replied. "I'm going to cut across the axis and try to draw their fire."

Cal took another long breath and followed his squadron as they spiraled down toward the Death Star's surface.

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Mara awoke to the almost silent sound of air being recycled through the palace filtration system, her skin cool with sweat and her danger sense sending warning spikes up her spine. She threw back the blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed, ready to spring. After a few seconds, when the only thing she could hear beside the vent was her own quiet breathing, she reached out for her master's presence.

Nearly one hundred floors above, she felt the Emperor's lifeforce: calm, still, pleased. As if he was experiencing a good dream. She wondered why he hadn't felt whatever had woken her up, and for a moment she considered calling to him through their bond.

You've been off ever since that assassin showed up, she scolded herself. Jumping at the slightest thing. Go back to bed.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was out of place. Her skin crawled, and Mara instinctively pulled her lightsaber out from under her pillow, holding it tight in her left hand as she reached underneath the bed and rummaged around for a handheld light. With a gentle push she lifted herself off of the bed and padded across the room to the closet where she stored the rest of her gear. Without setting the saber or the light down, she slipped on a jacket and a pair of loose-fitting pants, then pulled on her boots.

As Mara stepped out of her quarters, she probed the surrounding area in the Force. Below her she felt Luke in his quarters, restless and troubled.

Stop it.

She moved on, feeling for anything unusual. The Emperor still seemed to be asleep, and six of his royal guards were stationed on either side of the main door to his quarters. All was well.

But there was no harm in checking anyway.

Mara readjusted her grip on her lightsaber and walked to the end of the hall, running the fingers of her left hand along the wall panels until she found a slight indentation in the wood. The abnormality was only a centimeter in diameter; it was virtually impossible to find unless one knew where to look for it. Mara pressed her hands over the spot and closed her eyes, extending her senses beyond the panel to a pressure-sensitive switch within the wall. A small nudge with the Force was all it took to activate the switch. Down the hall, one of the square floor panels slid under the wall, revealing a cramped passageway.

Mara smirked. She still felt an odd sort of pleasure every time she used the palace's hidden passages. The sensation vanished, however, as she lowered herself under the floor and began crawling along the tunnel on her hands and knees. The floor panel closed behind her with a quiet hiss. Her danger sense flared up again, although she still couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary in her vicinity.

After crawling for a hundred meters, she reached a point where she could stand up. The tunnel came to a dead-end here, in front of a small turbolift that only opened in this tunnel and in one of the Emperor's personal passageways. The keypad was covered by a scanner; Mara pressed her thumb against the screen, and the cover slid back, revealing an alpha-numeric pad. She entered the eighteen-digit code, and almost immediately the elevator doors opened.

The ascent was fairly quick. The lift had taken her to the level just below her master's living quarters. The series of corridors she found herself in – when navigated correctly – led to the Emperor's private turbolift. The tingling pressure in her brain warned her that something was definitely not right, so she proceeded down the corridor, mentally rehearsing the order of lefts and rights she would need to take.

Mara rounded the first corner and found herself facing seven black-clad figures emerging from a blasted wall panel. Her lightsaber ignited a fraction of a second before seven blasters opened fire.

This, she thought as she threw herself back around the corner, is not my night.

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Aidan's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright in bed. For a second he couldn't remember where he was, but then the events of the last few days came flooding back. He twisted his head and scanned the room, using his heightened senses to see what his eyes could not.

Weird, he thought, realizing that nothing was amiss in his new rooms. What woke me up?

A flash of realization hit him, and he practically flew out of bed, grabbing the lightsaber the Emperor had given him. Without thinking about where he was going, he ran from his rooms and made for the nearest turbolift.

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Turbo laser blasts flashed around his cockpit as Cal swerved between the Death Star's defense towers. He heard several voices crackle across the comm, firing out warnings and orders that ran together in an incoherent buzz. Cal narrowed his eyes and flew past another tower, shooting at the surface.

"Watch it—"

"—heavy fire—"

"—twenty-three degrees—"

"I see it! Stay low." That last voice was Seek's. It called out to him like a beacon. Cal checked his scanner, searching for his cousin's signal.

"Cal! Pull up!"

Cal yanked back on the stick, narrowly avoiding an explosion on the station's surface.

"You alright? Cal?"

He swore under his breath as his instruments went haywire. There was a chuckle across the comm.

"What was that, Red Five?"

Cal smirked as his instruments returned. "Nothing, Red Three."

Seek pulled alongside Cal's wing, close enough that Cal could make out his cousin's features. "Good, then let's get those towers."

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Darth Vader strode quickly down the corridor toward his hangar, sensing the Rebel fighters as they continued their assault. He shook his head angrily, imagining the verbal lashing he would give Tarkin next time he saw him. No threat, indeed. The man had never been a true starpilot. He didn't know anything of the pilot's bravery, his tenacity, his disregard for the odds. Tarkin didn't understand, but Vader did. Those Rebel fighters might be small in number, but it would only take one to turn the tables on them. As he came to the hangar wing, he saw Commander Brage hurrying toward him. Vader held up a stopping hand.

"Yes, I know. We'll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the crews to their fighters."

The commander bowed. "It is already done, my lord."

Vader replied with a nod. When this was all over, he would have to promote the man. True initiative was becoming far too rare, and it needed to be rewarded wherever possible.

The Dark Lord continued down the corridor toward the bay that held his own fighter. He felt like flexing his muscles; it had been too long since he'd flown in combat. Far too long.

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If possible, the number of lasers crisscrossing Cal's ship had increased. He tried to get as close to the towers as he could, but it was becoming more difficult.

"Watch yourself," Red Leader warned. "There's a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower."

"Yes, sir," Cal replied, dodging another blast.

"I'm going in," Wedge said. "Cover me, Porkins."

Two X-wings screamed past Cal, heading for the tower. "I'm right with you, Red Two," Porkins answered.

Wedge took out the tower and went after the next one. Cal and Seek formed up and followed after him and Porkins, emboldened by Wedge's daring maneuvers.

"I've got a problem here," Porkins muttered as his fighter veered off course.

"Watch out!" Wedge yelled.

"I can hold it," the other pilot insisted. He was flying into the path of another tower.

"Porkins!"

"Eject!" Seek shouted.

"No, I'm alright—"

The lasers from the tower caught Porkins, blowing his ship apart. Cal stared in shock at the explosion. "Stars," he whispered.

"Snap out of it, Red Five," Red Leader said. "We've got seven minutes, so let's clear the way for Gold Squadron."

"Copy, Red Leader." Cal and Seek charged the turret that had killed Porkins, firing at it from both sides. The tower exploded, showering Cal's cockpit with sparks that quickly died. They continued to plow through another turret, shooting not only at the guns but at the surface as well.

A transmission from Base cut across the channel. "Squad leaders, we've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way."

Cal checked his readings. "My scope's negative."

"Pick up your visual scanning," Red Leader ordered. "Here they come."

A squadron of enemy TIE fighters appeared overhead and dove toward them. Cal broke off his attack on the towers and moved to intercept. They were fast, faster than his X-wing. By the time he had one in his sights, the blasted thing had already eluded him.

"I'm hit!" one of the Reds yelled before his ship crashed.

"Watch it, Red Three," Red Leader said. "You've got one on your tail."

"I can't see it!" Seek said in a panic. His craft was wobbling back and forth as he tried to get a visual on the TIE.

Cal angled toward his cousin. "I'm coming, Seek." He lined up behind the enemy ship. "I've got him, now dive!"

Seek dove straight for the surface, and as the TIE followed, Cal flew up beneath it and fired. The ship broke apart as though it were a toy.

Cal smiled. "Maybe they'll reconsider those shields, huh?"

Seek blew out a relieved breath. "Thanks, Cal."

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"Lord Vader, we have an update on the Rebel starfighters."

Vader pulled the comlink from his belt. "Go ahead, Commander."

"A squadron of Y-wing fighters has left the main attack group and his heading for the equatorial trench."

Vader smirked under his cowl. He was going to enjoy this. "Thank you, Commander. Order your fighters to continue their current assault. I will deal with the trench."

"Yes, my lord."

As Vader approached his private hangar, he saw two of his elite TIE pilots standing by. They snapped to attention at the sight of him.

"Several fighters have broken off from the main group. Come with me."

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Leia stared down at the display, but she wasn't really seeing it so much as seeing through it. She could feel the Rebel pilots out there, dying one by one.

"Watch your back, Cal!" one of the pilots warned. Leia tried to pinpoint Cal's location, but the battle was too confused, and she didn't know his presence well enough to find him.

"I'm hit, but it's not bad," Cal answered. "Artoo, have you got it under control?"

She didn't hear the rest of his exchange because another transmission broke in.

"Red Four, where are you?"

"Red Six, can you see Red Four—?"

"—there's a heavy firestorm—"

"Red Four!"

"I can't shake—"

Static hissed over the comm as Red Four's signal went dead. Leia felt the level of desperation in the room rise, felt the beginnings of panic in her own heart as she realized they only had six minutes before the Death Star was in range.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader. We're starting our attack run."

Every being in the room seemed to take a collective breath, bracing themselves as the pilots of Gold Squadron moved into position. Leia watched the lights on the upright display, watched the signals of the Y-wings converge on the Death Star's equator. There was more chatter across the comm, but a low beeping caught her attention.

"How many guns do you think, Gold Five?"

Leia ignored them, returning her gaze to the flat display, the one that was tracking the battle station.

"The Death Star will be in range in five minutes," the computer said. Leia gripped the edge of the display, knuckles white. It wasn't enough time. Even if the Force was on their side, it wasn't enough time.

Then she sensed a new presence, a brilliant darkness that threatened to swallow everything around it, and she knew all hope was lost now. The Rebel starpilots might be good, might even be great – but they were no match for Darth Vader.

For the first time since leaving home, she knew exactly what she had to do.

As she sprinted out of the war room, she saw a few Rebels, including Javan, give her startled looks, but she didn't have time to explain.

Leia ran into the hangar, looking for the X-wing she'd seen earlier, the one with the broken rear stabilizer. Of all the damaged fighters, that one had seemed the most capable of flying. Spotting it on the opposite side of the hangar, she forced herself to run faster, to get there before it was too late to do anything.

"Hey, Princess!"

She didn't look up when Han shouted after her to ask just what the hell she was doing. It occurred to her that he should have been long gone, but the thought vanished almost as quickly as it had come. The X-wing was her focus, was the only thing she could allow herself to think of. She'd never flown one, not even a simulator, and for all her skills, she had been rather lax when it came to fighter combat. Piloting a damaged ship into a live firefight was not going to be easy.

Using the Force to augment her movements, she vaulted into the open cockpit, to the surprise of the technician who was tinkering with the stabilizer casing.

"Get that closed in three seconds," Leia told him, "or you're space waste." She grabbed the helmet that was on the seat, strapped herself in, and pressed a button to close the hatch.

"Hey, she's not fixed yet!"

Leia looked out at the technician and smiled as the canopy sealed around her. In four minutes, it wouldn't matter. She started the ship's engines and steered her toward the opening at the end of the hangar.

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As he tried to shake his tail, Cal saw the Y-wings disappear into the trench.

"The guns," one of the Gold pilots said. "They've stopped!"

"Stabilize your rear deflectors. Watch for enemy fighters."

Cal's computer beeped at him urgently, and he circled about, trying to lose the TIE behind him.

"Red Five, watch it!"

"I know, I can't shake him!" Cal dropped toward one of the towers, hoping the other ship would be caught in its fire, but the TIE stayed tight on his trail. "Seek!"

"I'm on him, Cal," Wedge said calmly. "Hold on."

Cal swung away from the towers, and as he did so, Wedge came charging toward him, nearly clipping his wings. He blasted the TIE apart and flew right through the wreckage.

Cal let out the breath he'd been holding. "Thanks, Wedge."

"Blast!" Seek yelled over the comm. Cal looked to see if he was in trouble, but as he did so an explosion caught his eye. Pieces of twisted metal flew up out of the trench, and three TIE fighters followed after it.

Red Eight gasped audibly. "Gold Squadron is gone."

"Red boys, this is Red Leader. We've got three minutes. Rendezvous at five six point one."

"Red Three, standing by." Seek gritted out, his voice choked and angry.

"Red Leader, this is Base One," General Dodonna interrupted. "Leave half your group out of range for the next run."

"Copy, Base One," Red Leader replied. "Wedge, take Reds Three and Five and wait up here for my signal to start your run."

Cal swallowed what little moisture remained in his mouth as Red Leader took Reds Eightand Ten and descended toward the trench.

"This is it," Red Leader called out.

Cal followed Wedge and Seek to a point high above the station where they could monitor for TIE fighter. So far the only things he could see were the X-wings in the trench and the occasional lance of emerald-colored energy from the turrets. They were fairly easy to avoid from this distance.

"There's too much interference," Red Ten commented. "Red Two, can you see those fighters from where you are?"

"No sign yet… wait! Coming in at point three five."

"I see them."

Red Leader's signal was nearing the target. Cal tried to move in for a better look, aware that he'd have to make a break for it once the torpedoes were fired.

The three TIE fighters were bearing down on Reds Eightand Ten. The middle TIE was of a slightly different design, and it was moving out in front of its wingmates. It shot off two laser blasts that ripped through Red Eight, sending him crashing against the bottom of the trench.

"They're right behind me!" Red Ten's voice was panicked.

"Almost there," Red Leader murmured.

Cal felt his insides twist as the lead TIE fighter caught up to Red Tenand fired.

"I can't hold them—"

Static hissed over the comm for a second before Red Leader interrupted with, "It's away!"

The target shaft was engulfed in a brilliant explosion. Cal turned his ship toward space, ready to flee.

"It's a hit!" Seek shouted.

"Negative," Red Leader answered, sounding a little dazed. "Negative. It didn't go in. Just pecked it on the surface."

As Red Leader tried to come around for a second attempt, the lead TIE fighter latched onto his tail and fired. Wedge responded first.

"Red Leader, we're right above you. Turn to point oh five—"

"No, stay there, boys. I just lost my starboard engine."

They were all silent as the TIE swooped in for the kill.

"Get set up for your attack run."

The enemy ship shot three more times, and Red Leader screamed defiantly for a few seconds before his X-wing smashed into the battle station in a blinding flash of white.

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