27
Tycho brought his X-wing around, falling in behind the TIE Interceptor making a run at Rogue Four. He came in at an angle, the sun of the Arramsetti system at his back, hoping the TIE pilot wouldn't be able to see him. But obviously he could.
The TIE juked left and right in an effort to evade his shots, but at least it also meant that the TIE couldn't get a solid lock on Varnestra. Tycho held his fire for a moment, studying the other ship's movements. He noticed that the other pilot had a tendency to shift to port, followed by a snap role to starboard. He watched the cycle one more time then made his move.
The smaller ship dipped then rose again, in hopes of getting in a lucky shot at the other Rogue, then shifted to port. Tycho aimed at an area of space just to the right of the squint and pressed his trigger. Less than a second later, the other ship flew right into his cross hairs and exploded.
"Thanks, Lead." Rogue Four murmured. Her voice was very subdued.
"Rogue Four, where's your wingman?"
"He's gone, Lead. He flew right into a turbolaser blast from Retribution." Even through the crackling comm system, there was no mistaking the anguish in her voice.
Tycho checked his screen and suddenly his mouth went dry. Varnestra was right. Arata Voran was no longer there. "Four, form up with me. We're heading back towards the Paladin."
"Complying, Rogue Leader."
Tycho watched as her X-wing came around to join his from the right. From his left, Rekdon, his own temporary wingman, came around to rejoin him after taking out his own eyeball.
"Rogue Leader, this is Rogue Control."
Nawara was contacting him on the tactical channel of their small fleet. "Go ahead, Control."
"Lead, be advised that the Retribution will be leaving the system and taking her fighters with her. Don't fire on any TIE that isn't engaging you. Please confirm the order."
"I copy, Control. Would you mind explaining what's going on?"
"Not on this channel. Booster says 'just trust me on this', so I guess we have to."
"I hope he knows what he's doing." He switched to the squadron frequency. "Attention, Rogue and Venture Group. Don't attack any TIE that isn't actively hostile. If they're heading for the Retribution, let them go. Fire only on targets that engage you."
As he spoke, he saw more than half of the remaining TIEs on his screen break off and head back to their ship at a speed no X-wing could match. That left thirteen of Querulous'fighters to contend with along with the Star Destroyer herself. But he didn't think they would cause them too many problems. The Querulous' turbolasers were mostly quiet since she had been overcome by ion cannons.
The remainder of the Retribution's ships had entered her hangars, and the giant ship turned her bow away from Arramsetti III. She headed out of the planet's mass shadow at flank speed, making her run up to light speed. With a blur of motion, she was gone, and Tycho realized that his mouth was hanging open in surprise. Just like that, the tide had turned in their favor.
"Rogue Leader, Control here." Nawara's voice came through his speakers again, composed and calm. "The remaining fighters are heading for the planet. Transport shuttles with ground troops ready to head to landing site. Recommend Rogue Squadron provides cover for the shuttles."
"Agreed, Control. Have the Venture release the shuttles, and each Rogue Flight will escort their shuttle to the planet. Have what's left of Venture Squadron remain in orbit to protect the shuttles on their exit and to deal with any TIEs that try to meet up with the Querulous."
"I copy, Lead. Happy hunting." Nawara's last word was clipped at the end as the Executive Officer changed frequencies.
Tycho dialed his own comm unit back to the Rogue channel. "Listen up, Rogues. What's left of the TIEs are heading away from the combat zone towards the planet. Break by Flights and cover a shuttle each. You know which ones you're responsible for. It's time to deliver our assault troops. Confirm by number."
"Lead, Rogue Two. Message received."
Tycho couldn't help but notice a moment's hesitation before Rogue Four spoke.
"Rogue Four here. Understood."
"Rogue Five, okay."
"Rogue Six, ready to go."
"Rogue Seven, copy."
"Lead, Rogue Eight. Understood."
"Nine here. Lead the way."
"Ten understands."
"Eleven, still in one piece and ready to go."
"Lead, Twelve. Just point me in the right direction."
"Rogue Plus copies."
"Good. Form up by flight and cover the shuttle you've been assigned. And stay alert—we've already had one surprise, I don't want any more."
In the center of the plaza, Elscol, Sixtus, and their group of resistance fighters had begun to work their way toward the balcony that held Tchlinda and Turpa, when they began to take heavy fire. Scrambling for whatever cover they could find, Elscol thumbed on her comlink.
"Tuvora? Do you read me?" There was no answer. "Tuvora?" She started looking around for the red-headed Major.
She spotted the woman near the monument. As she'd paused under cover to replace the power cell in her blaster, a stormtrooper had grabbed Ajene by the hair and was bringing his own fully charged blaster up toward her chest. Dropping the useless blaster, her right hand moved with a flicking motion and a vibroblade appeared. Using her left hand to grip the hand that held her hair, she slashed with the blade at one of the vulnerable spots on the trooper's armored arm, the elbow. At the same time, she brought up her left knee, knocking the trooper's blaster from his other hand.
The hand that had been holding her hair went limp, and Ajene silenced his scream of agony by letting go of the partially severed arm, shoving the chin of his helmet upwards, then slashing his exposed throat. The vibroblade disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and, picking up her blaster again, she finished loading the power cell. Then she brought out her comlink. "Sorry, Elscol. What do you need?" She looked around until she spotted Elscol under a low balcony.
It took Elscol a second to find her voice. And I was worried about how she would react under fire? "Um...We're taking fire and can't get to Tchlinda's balcony. Can you see where the fire's coming from?"
"Stand by; I'll get back to you."
Clipping her comlink to the collar of her flightsuit and holstering her blaster, Ajene searched for a better vantage point. She glanced up at the monument and smiled.
She removed a thin cable and collapsible grappling hook from one of the dead stormtrooper's belt pouches and headed at a run for the outstretched arm of one of the statues on the monument. Dodging blaster bolts as she went, she twirled the weighted hook several times then let it fly. It wrapped itself around its intended target and caught on the first try. She began to climb the cable almost effortlessly.
Reaching the top, she swung up and over the top of the arm. From there she had a perfect view of most of the plaza. She tilted her head and spoke into her comlink. "I've spotted them, Elscol. It's an E-Web on the roof of one of the other buildings. I'll have it taken care of."
"Thanks."
"By the way, Tchlinda and Turpa aren't on the balcony anymore. I just saw Turpa duck into the palace. I don't know where Tchlinda is."
"Understood. We can handle him as soon as we get into the palace."
"Okay, stand by." She switched frequencies on her comlink. "Rogue Leader, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear, Ajene." There was the distinct sound of an explosion from the comlink and it echoed through the plaza a second later. Ajene looked up just in time to see a TIE fighter disintegrate in the distance under Tycho's lasers. "What can I do for you?"
"There's an E-Web on the roof of the building directly across from the palace. You can't miss it; it's the one with the green roof. Can you have someone take care of that for us? It's got Loro's group pinned down. Don't have to worry about collateral damage, 'cause the plaza is nearly clear. "
"Consider it done. And we've got your reinforcements headed in. They should be on the ground in a few minutes," Tycho said, his voice crackling through the static.
"I copy that, Rogue Leader. Thanks." She remained where she was until she spotted an X-wing swoop around and make its run. She returned to the ground channel. "Incoming, El, so you'll be clear in a minute. You may want to take cover."
At that second, the approaching X-wing let go a quad burst of fire from its lasers. A heartbeat later the E-Web canon and its crew were vaporized, spraying ferrocrete and metal shards down into the empty plaza. All that remained of the top floor of the building was smoking rubble. The X-wing screamed by overhead, barely ten meters above the plaza. Its S-foils dipped left then right in a close approximation of a wave, showing the green and blue paint scheme of the Thyferran Defence Force.
Typical Jace, Ajene thought. Corran was right about his arrogance.
Ajene looked out to where Elscol and her men had taken cover and watched as the resistance group surged toward the Moff's palace. As she prepared to drop from her position, Ajene glanced around one final time, and something caught her eye. Moving in the opposite direction from the palace was Lathel Tchlinda and five stormtroopers. Ajene plotted their course and estimated where they were heading.
Looking down to their likely destination, she saw the Lieutenant, Heblon she thought his name was, and Wedge, firing from the cover of the X-wing's port S-foil. They wouldn't be able to see Tchlinda from their position, and she would be on top of them before they even knew she was there.
Instead of dropping back to the ground, Ajene climbed onto the shoulder of the statue. Carefully making her way around the head and along the other arm, she moved to the top of the stone tab. She worked her way toward the front of the monument, where Wedge and Heblon were pinned down. She couldn't see Kell or Face, but knew they had to be down there somewhere.
She moved as quickly as she could, balanced precariously as she crossed the arm. She hoped that she would reach the far side in time to warn Wedge about Tchlinda's group, who approached far below to her left.
Acid bubbled up into Jarice Cright's throat as he watched the Retribution recover her fighters and head for hyperspace.
We've lost. There's no way we can win without that ship.
They had managed to restore partial shields and their engines, but they had very few fighters left and Rogue Squadron had proved extremely adept at avoiding their turbolasers. Should the X-wings turn on them with their missiles, they would be dead.
The two Mon Calamari cruisers, much smaller than his ship, continued to dance around them, striking out with vicious intent. They would keep on nibbling away at their hull until the Querulous broke apart or they surrendered.
Panic overwhelmed him and self-preservation kicked in. Run. We have to run. If we remain here the rebels will kill us.
He whirled around to face Lieutenant Brue. "Mr. Brue, bring us around. We're getting out of here."
A look of disbelief passed across the young man's face. "But sir, Admiral Turpa—"
"Forget Admiral Turpa! There's nothing we can do to help him and if we stay here we'll be destroyed right along with him. We're leaving!"
"Aye, sir," the Lieutenant conceded. "What heading?"
"Any heading, Brue. Just get us out of this system then we'll decide where to go."
Booster Terrik returned to the bridge of the Errant Venture just in time to see the Querulous turn and make a slow run out of the system.
"Azzeh, stop that ship. I want it kept here!"
"Excuse me, sir? You want to keep it here?" She stared at him incredulously.
"That's right. Have the Paladin and Provider hit it again with their ion cannons."
"Yes, sir." She turned to the communications officer to give the order, but the Star Destroyer was gone in a flash.
Booster hammered his huge fist off the arm of his chair. "Sithspit!"
His first officer approached him, still more than a little confused. "I thought this whole mission was designed to get the Querulous to run, sir?"
"I suppose it was, Azzeh. But under these particularly circumstances, I wanted that ship. Do you know how much the New Republic would pay for a slightly used Victory Star Destroyer?"
"No, but I'm sure you do." She grinned at him, and he had to smile in return.
"Contact the ground forces and Colonel Celchu. Let them know that Querulous is gone." He looked over the heads of his bridge crew. "Now if we can only get Wedge back, this would be a pretty good day."
Using the monument as cover, Moff Tchlinda and her stormtrooper escort eased their way toward the unsuspecting men hiding beneath the X-wing.
The group had snuck around the plaza, keeping to the high wall down one side, and had slowly moved from the back of the monument towards the front, where the X-wing sat.
Suddenly, one of the troopers fell, hit by a blaster shot from across the plaza. Tchlinda couldn't see the sniper, but knew that he had to be on one of the buildings across from the garrison. On her signal the four remaining stormtroopers closed in around her and they continued to move quickly forward. But no more shots came close to them and she concluded that they must have moved out of the sniper's range.
After several more minutes of stealthily stealing towards their prey, they were finally in position. With a wave of her hand, two of her guards worked their way farther around the front of the monument and split up. While one stopped not too far from Tchlinda, the second proceeded further down, keeping just out of view of the two men under the cover of the X-wing.
With a silent signal between the two troopers, they popped up, one to the left of the X-wing, the other to the right, and drew Antilles' and Heblon's attention in opposite directions.
Both men fired at the troopers, but only Heblon's shot connected, hitting his target high in the chest, dropping him to the ferrocrete below. Wedge continued to track his fire towards the second stormtrooper and Heblon turned to fire as well.
Kell and Face came around from the far side of the fighter, raising their rifles towards the decoy trooper. Kell was the first to hit him, and he dropped to the ground, clutching at a large crater in the lower half of his chest plate. Heblon turned back towards the far side of the monument, making sure that no other threats presented themselves.
On Tchlinda's command, her two remaining troopers stood and took aim. Heblon saw them a split second later, shouted a warning and managed to get in between the troopers and Wedge. One bolt went wide, but the other one struck home, a green laser bolt hitting Heblon in the shoulder. The Lieutenant stumbled back with the force of the blast then slumped against the fuselage of the X-wing, a smoking, sizzling hole in his uniform, before he dropped heavily to the ground.
Face snapped off another shot, taking out the second of the decoy troopers, who had risen to his feet again. Kell and Wedge whirled to face the new threat, who now stood before them, covering them with their rifles. They raised their hands as Tchlinda stepped out of her protected position.
She had them cornered.
Lathel Tchlinda motioned for the three men to drop their weapons, and they complied, Wedge dropping his next to the fallen Lieutenant. As he did, he caught an almost imperceptible movement out of the corner of his left eye, above and beyond his fighter.
"Well, General Antilles, I'd like to congratulate you on your remarkable recovery. You are truly an exceptional adversary. In a way I'm glad that it has come to this. Now I will have the pleasure of finishing you myself."
"And we know how much you value your pleasure, isn't that right, Lady Tchlinda?" He leaned heavily against the bottom engine on the S-foil.
"Indeed we do. Now, down on your knees General. But keep your hands where I can see them, please." She motioned with her blaster, and he eased down onto his knees, his fingers laced behind his head. "Would you like to beg for your life? Please do."
"No. I don't think that'll be necessary. I'm just going to get out of the way." He smiled up at her then flung himself onto his stomach.
"What?"
Her question was lost in the sound of the blaster shot that took out the trooper standing next to her. Kell dove for his blaster and took out the second trooper. Tchlinda had just enough time to realize that Heblon had fired the first shot with Wedge's discarded blaster and shift her aim to return fire when she was hit chest high by the full weight of Ajene Tuvora.
The major swung in from high above Wedge, plowing through Tchlinda. The two women tumbled down the steps that led down to the plaza from the level where the X-wing sat. They landed in a tangle on the walkway at the bottom. Tchlinda struggled to bring her blaster to bear on her attacker, who was just as determined to stop her.
Raising his head cautiously as he still lay on his stomach, Wedge looked at the women. He struggled up onto his hands and knees and crawled back to where Heblon was attempting to sit up. "How bad is it?" He helped the man lean against the front landing strut and took a closer look at the wounded shoulder.
"Not too bad," he grunted. "Not much more than a flesh wound." He looked down towards where the two women were fighting on the ground, then at Wedge. The pilot was beginning to shake noticeably. "I see that shot I gave you is wearing off. You okay?"
Wedge leaned against the ship, next to the Lieutenant. "Uh huh."
"That's your lady, isn't it?" Heblon nodded toward the women just as Tchlinda avoided a roundhouse kick to the jaw from Ajene.
"Yeah, that's her." They watched as Ajene twisted violently and dumped the other woman onto her back.
A blaster bolt exploded at Ajene's feet as she stood over Tchlinda, and she had to dive for cover. Kell and Face fired back at the troopers across the plaza, and Ajene was able to make her way back to the monument. Wedge watched as Tchlinda crawled to the side of the plaza and disappeared from view.
Landing heavily beside Wedge and Heblon, Ajene tried to catch her breath. Finally she looked at Wedge and grinned. "Nice to see you again, General."
"Major." He smiled wearily back at her. "Sorry about dinner."
"I'll forgive you this time, but don't make a habit of it." She leaned over and kissed him hard on the mouth. Then, straightening up, she drew her blaster.
The two men helped each other stand, and she eyed them uncertainly. Neither one of them looked too steady on their feet. Kell stepped forward and slung Wedge's arm around his shoulders while Face let Heblon lean on him for support.
"Do you guys think you could make a run for it?" Ajene asked.
"We can sure try," Heblon said. "We certainly don't want to stay here."
"Let's hope so, because this would be a really good time to go. We're headed to the back of the Moff's palace." She lifted her comlink to her mouth and contacted the sniper on top of the roof across from the garrison. "This is Major Tuvora. Give us some covering fire. We're heading from the front of the monument to the palace." There was a double click in reply and she tucked the device into a pocket. "Okay, boys. Let's move."
Now that the E-Web had been neutralized, Sixtus and Elscol moved their team toward the Moff's palace with relative ease. The fighting in the plaza was still heavy, and there were pockets of Imperial resistance that took more dealing with than others. But without the Scout Walkers and the E-Web to worry about, the tide of the battle had turned in their favor.
Reaching the palace, they split up into two groups. One headed down, to clear any trouble that might be hiding in the lower levels of the building. The other team, which included Sixtus and Elscol, headed up to prevent Osiel Turpa from escaping in his shuttle.
Making their way cautiously up the stairs, leaving a rear guard to cover each floor, they worked their way to the fifth level, one level before the roof. Once they reached that level, they were stopped cold. Another E-Web had been set up in the hallway, and its crew fired on anything that moved.
"Now what?" Elscol ducked back behind a wall just as the cannon fired, knocking a large chunk out of the corner at head level. "They'll hold us here long enough for Turpa and a command crew to get to the shuttle and raise ship."
Sixtus spoke up. "I think I might have something that could work here." He smiled and pulled a flat disk from his pack. It was about fifteen centimeters across and made of a dark gray metal.
"What's that?" Elscol asked, unfamiliar with the design.
"Something that Kell thought we might need. Give me some room here. When I tell you, lay down some covering fire." They backed off a meter while he fiddled with the inner workings of the disk. "All right...now!"
The room lit up with the flash of blasters, and the stench of ozone permeated the air. Sixtus stood and dove across the hallway, sliding the disk across the floor as he went. He just managed to duck behind the wall on the far side as the E-Web began to track him. But before the energy could reach him, there was a thunderous explosion and the E-Web went silent.
Elscol gave Sixtus a thin-lipped smile as he stood on the other side of the hall. "I think I'm beginning to like Kell. Let's move."
There was a hasty shuffling of people and positions, and they headed up the stairs at a run. When they reached the roof, the scenario didn't look very promising.
Turpa and a group of stormtroopers had barricaded themselves behind a low blast containment wall, and were laying down a withering pattern of fire. To make matters worse, there was someone in the shuttle running through the pre-flight sequence.
"We've got to stop that shuttle." Elscol switched comm frequencies. "Any Rogue in the vicinity of the Moff's palace. Do you copy?"
"Rogue Nine here." Corran's voice was strained as he was no doubt under fire himself. But he soon continued, more at ease. "What can I do for you?"
"We're on the roof of the palace. We need the Lamb taken care of. Nothing too spectacular, just enough to keep her from lifting off."
"No problem. Your reinforcements are almost on the ground, and your wish is my command. Keep your heads down for a few minutes."
It actually didn't take Corran much longer than a few seconds. There was the roar of an approaching X-wing, and then two linked laser shots sizzled through the morning air.
The shuttle rocked, and the upper stabilizer and one of the folded wings melted. The liquid metal ran down the sides of the ship in rivulets.
"How's that?"
"Just fine, Nine. Thanks."
"Ten and I are in the neighborhood until the Skate lifts off. Let us know if you need any more help. Oh, and by the way, the Querulous has left the system." Corran's ship flashed overhead, in a three hundred and sixty-degree roll, then stood on its tail and went straight up.
"Showoff!" Elscol cried into the air above her head, before she turned back to the problem at hand. But she had to admit that she was a little more confident now that the Querulous was gone. A loud bang brought her attention back to the present, however. The wing that had not been slagged clattered to the ground, crushing a stormtrooper in the process.
With their only means of escape gone, the Imperials seemed to lose the will to fight, and most threw down their guns. The few diehards that didn't lasted only a few minutes longer. Only Turpa remained behind cover, firing back at the advancing Rebels. In a last desperate move, he charged them, one against six. Elscol shook her head and let go one shot. A blue stun bolt struck him in the chest and he pitched forward onto the permacrete roof.
As the Imperial prisoners, including the Lamb's pilot, were herded downstairs, Sixtus and Elscol walked over to where the Admiral lay. Reaching down, Sixtus rolled him over and swore passionately. The man was far too young to be the Admiral.
"It's not him. It's a decoy. We have to find him!