26
Gavin's X-wing spiraled through space, successfully avoiding the not too accurate fire from the TIE Interceptor on his tail.
As soon as the Rogues had driven into the swarming cloud of TIEs, Gavin had lost track of his wingman, Rehm. He could see the blue marker on his screen that meant he was out there somewhere, but he couldn't get a visual lock on him. Now he was alone, unprotected.
He inverted and dove towards the planet, hitting the right rudder pedal, swinging the back of his ship to port. He kept his turn tight and fast, his body being driven into his pilot's couch, despite his inertial compensator that fought the effects of gravity.
The TIE was slow in reacting and Gavin soon swept in behind it. His heads-up display flashed from yellow to red as he got a lock on it. He fired one missile and saw it streak across the short distance, shearing off the left solar panel of the fighter. Both pieces tumbled end over end out into space.
Gavin breathed a sigh of relief and his hand unconsciously brushed across his abdomen. He had been with Rogue Squadron only a few short months when he had been shot in the belly by Imperial stormtroopers in their supposedly secret base on Talasea. At the time, it was the closest he had ever been to dying. The pain had been unbearable and he had spent nearly a week in a bacta tank. From time to time his belly would ache sympathetically at the memory of his first brush with death.
His R-5 unit, Jawaswag, screeched. He looked over his shoulder in time to see an eyeball swoop in behind him. He sent his ship weaving towards one of the Mon Calamari cruisers in an attempt to make himself a more difficult target. He stomped on the left rudder pedal and pulled back on the stick, bringing his ship up and to the right. But he immediately dove again, heading directly at the planet.
There was a bright flash behind him and he turned to see an expanding ball of fire that had been the eyeball. He quickly checked his sensor screen. "Thanks, Five. Nice to see you again."
"Sorry I had to go, Six. A squint wanted my attention more than you did."
"Understood. Let's get back in there and help take some attention off the others."
"Six, some of the TIEs are heading for the planet. Your seven o'clock."
Gavin looked over his left shoulder and saw six TIEs heading for the atmosphere. "I see it, Five." He switched over to the General squad channel. "Lead, Six. Some of the eyeballs are heading dirt side. Permission for Five and I to follow and dissuade them."
"Granted, Six. But don't be gone too long. We need you here as well."
"Back soon, boss. Let's go, Five."
The air was split by the distinctive whine of TIEs, and those left in the plaza looked up to see some of the small fighters diving down towards them.
Elscol had been trying to make her way through the crowd with little success. She stopped to look into the sky and saw the TIEs approach. With almost hypnotic fascination, she watched one of the ungainly little fighters heading straight for where she stood.
She could almost imagine the pilot's movements in the ball cockpit as he targeted and prepared to fire. Then suddenly the TIE exploded in a brilliant ball of flame. She and everyone around her ducked for cover from the resulting shower of shrapnel. A split second later, a spiraling X-wing occupied the airspace where the eyeball had been.
On either side of the garrison next door, Scout Walkers began to make their way towards the fleeing civilians in and around the plaza. But they were ripped apart by a second snubfighter before they could even reach them. After hitting its targets, the X-wing rejoined his wingmate and headed for three TIEs screaming in towards the plaza. The five ships swarmed overhead like angry insects, flashes of red and green light erupting between them.
One by one, the TIEs were destroyed. With their mission accomplished, the two X-wings screamed for space again.
Once upon a time, Elscol would have wished she were up there with them, but her life had changed a lot since she had parted ways with the Rogues. And now she had another mission to accomplish.
She began fighting her way through the sea of people, trying to make her way towards the balcony where her targets waited.
Corran waited for the targeting box on his screen to flash green, then hit the firing button, sending a quad burst of red lasers out to bisect the TIE Interceptor that he'd been pursuing. Hot debris hit one of the fuel cells, and the ship was reduced to a cloud of flaming gas.
Completing the climb that he'd started, he rolled the X-wing to starboard and looked around. Ooryl, as always, was still on his wing.
A trio of TIEs were attempting to run down one of the Uglies from the Errant Venture, so he headed in that direction. He glanced at his tactical screen to identify the ship. "Watch your tail, Venture Six. You've picked up company. Ten and I are on them."
"Hurry, Rogue Nine." The inexperienced pilot sounded on the verge of panic.
"Copy, Venture Six. Cut to a heading of three five mark four."
The Ugly, a combination of an X-wing's S-foils and the ball cockpit of a TIE Interceptor, complied with his order, and its pilot was suddenly heading right for Corran.
The Corellian could imagine the Venture pilot's face when his X-wing opened fire at the TIE trailing him. It would look like he was shooting at the Ugly, but it meant that the TIE following him might not be able to see Corran's approach.
The TIEs solar panel sheared off and part of it blew right through the cockpit. Corran had to glance away as it exploded in a brilliant expanding ball of flame.
The other two TIEs on Six's rear quickly winked out of existence as Corran and Ooryl converged on them. "Thanks, Rogues. I owe you."
"No problem, Venture Six. You can buy us a drink later."
Corran and Ooryl passed by theUgly and headed into the thick of the dog fight. Corran saw a TIE fall in behind an X-wing and a quick check of his sensors showed that it was Wes Janson. "Rogue Twelve, there's a squint dropping in behind you."
"I'm on him, Nine," Eleven's voice replied. Hobbie's ship swooped in from above, his lasers converging at the rear of the TIE. There was a brief flash and the ship was reduced to melted metal parts.
"Thanks, Eleven. It's about time you came in handy for something." Corran was happy to hear humor return to Wes's voice.
"Lead, Nine. Is it me or are these guys not that good?"
"I was beginning to think the same thing, Nine," Tycho replied. "Not that I'm complaining. We'll figure it out later."
Corran looked at his sensor board. The TIEs had been hit hard. Of the original seventy-two, only forty-one remained. I have to agree with Tycho that we can't complain, but it should be much harder than this. These pilots are either very green or someone set Tchlinda up to fail.
On board the Paladin, a thick smoke was beginning to fill the bridge. Fire had broken out to the left where a power coupling had exploded, wounding several of the crew working in that area.
Captain Assay paced in front of the viewport. The new Star Destroyer was hitting his ship hard. They had identified her as the Retribution and they couldn't take much more pounding from her. The Querulous was drifting in space, disabled by repeated salvos from their ion cannons, but the Retribution had moved in front of her, providing a shield for the helpless ship.
"Ensign, bring us around to heading one two mark eight four. Let the Provider take a shot at Retribution. Give me a channel to the Venture.
"Aye, sir. Channel open."
"Captain Terrik, I hope you have a plan for the Retribution, because I am fresh out of ideas."
"I do in fact have an idea, Captain, but it's a little outrageous. I know that ship and the individual in charge of her and her fleet. If you and the Provider can keep her busy, I'm going to try something."
"Whatever it is, make it fast."
"Understood. Venture out."
The channel closed, and he signaled to the communications officer. "Let me know as soon as you get any message from Captain Terrik."
"Aye, sir."
"Helm, bring us around to heading two four mark four eight. Head in straight for Retribution's bow. Let's see if we can get her attention."
Booster Terrik left the bridge in the hands of Azzeh and headed for his private office. He had a call to make and he was pretty sure that the individual he was calling would like to keep their conversation private.
Once he reached his office, he locked the door and placed a holocomm call. It took a few minutes for the transmission to be routed through a dozen sources. Even then it took several passwords before he was able to reach Admiral Tesh Dorass on Qsartun Prime. And when he did, the Admiral wasn't at all happy.
"Captain Terrik, I've asked you repeatedly not to call me. I will contact you!" The Admiral was middle aged and had thickened a little around his middle. He had eyes so dark that they seemed almost black, and even through the crackling transmission, they were still intense.
"I'm sorry, Admiral, but I am sure you will appreciate that I called you this time. It could mean the difference between you keeping or losing the Retribution."
"What do you know of my ship?"
Booster gave a slight smile. "I know quite a bit, more than you probably want me to know. But the thing that may interest you is that my Star Destroyer and yours are in the middle of a battle over Arramsetti III."
Dorass nodded slowly. "So, you are the reason that Turpa felt compelled to threaten me into handing over one of my ships."
"Yes. He and his Moff are holding a very good friend of mine and I want him back. If I have to destroy your ship to do it, I will. But I wanted to offer you the chance to withdraw it. Consider it a courtesy for a client."
"That is unusually generous of you, Captain, but Turpa knows not only about our business arrangements but several others as well." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "How do I know that you didn't leak that information to him?"
"I don't suppose you would believe me if I gave you my word that I didn't?"
"No, I would not."
"Well then, let me put it to you in terms we can both appreciate. It would be bad for my operation and my reputation if I were to let it be known that we had business together. Where else can I get parts for the Venture? The New Republic would certainly frown upon it, even though they aren't about to hand over what I need for my ship."
"That, I can believe." Dorass was silent for a moment as he thought the situation over. The lights dimmed briefly and Booster could hear thumps as his ship took fire from the Imperials. A shudder ran through the deck beneath his feet, and he hoped that Dorass would decide quickly.
"Captain, before I consider calling off the Retribution, I would need certain...assurances."
"Such as?"
"I need to know that Tchlinda and Turpa will be taken care of. Should they survive, they'll know that I've betrayed them. They'll inform Naval Command of my arrangements with you and members of the New Republic. I will be executed for treason."
"Admiral, if you withdraw your ship, I can guarantee that Arramsetti III will fall, Tchlinda and Turpa with it."
The Admiral let out a long sigh. "Very well. I'll contact the Retribution and have them leave the system. You will owe me much for this, Captain."
"Consider it a favor, Admiral. And I always repay my favors. But before you go, there is one question I would like to ask you."
"Make it a quick one, Terrik."
"Of course, Admiral. The pilots that you sent with Retribution, they aren't your best, are they?"
Dorass looked as if Booster had struck him across the face, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Captain Terrik, are you insinuating that I would send substandard pilots and equipment to a fellow Admiral?"
Booster smiled. "Of course not. Thank you for your time, Admiral."
"You are welcome. Don't ever call me again."
With a wink of light, Dorass' holo-image faded to static and Booster headed out of his office.