Hearts Are Meant To: Chapter 9
Luke stared through the forward viewport of the Z-95 Headhunter's cockpit, wishing for the millionth time that he was on board his own X-wing. At least his X-wing had hyperdrive. He hated the fact that he and the other Rogues had to ride in the hangar bay of the Rebel Assault Cruiser, he hated the fact that the Rogues would have to maneuver their way back to the bay before they could get out of the system, and he hated the fact that they were essentially performing a bombing run. In fact, he hated just about everything to do with this mission.
He'd barely said two words to Narra after the briefing, although he'd wanted to. He'd wanted to express the feelings of betrayal, hurt, and anger that the establishment of Renegade Flight had caused. He'd wanted to ask him why there had been no prior notification of the new group. He'd wanted to ask him why they were getting the fun task of flying cover while Luke and the Rogues had to bomb the surface of the planet in order for the transport ship to take off. They were the distraction, while the Renegades were the defenders. When had the Rogues become so useless?
Taking a deep breath, he tried to channel all of his anger and hostility through the inhalation and then release it outward with his exhalation. Blinking his eyes at the interior of the hangar bay, he realized it hadn't worked.
"Tense, Boss?" Wedge's voice crackled over the comm.
Luke let his lips twitch upward in a smile that did not reflect how he truly felt. His sigh must have carried over the comm. "I'd be lying if I said I was happy about this."
"At least it should be an easy run," Janson piped in.
Luke shuddered. Maybe for the other Rogues, but not for him. The whole idea of a bombing run turned his stomach. This was different than chasing a single moving target and then vaping it before it could get a shot off at you. In the past month, he'd gotten better at being able to handle the Force repercussions of that particular task. He still felt shaken at the end of a mission, as though he'd been stained by the blood of those he'd slain in battle; and he still wished more than anything that he could simply turn the Force off or find some way to block that particular effect during a fight. However, until he learned how to control the Force better-if he learned how to control the Force better-he'd learned how to prepare himself mentally for the impact of his enemies' deaths. But a bombing run?
Ben had said that the destruction of Alderaan had felt like millions of voices crying out. Luke recalled how shaken and pale Ben had looked when it happened. He also recalled his own nightmares in the aftermath of Yavin. The overpowering sense of death had come as quite a shock to him, and the dreams had really rattled him at first. He had no intention of going through that again.
And yet, here he was. Bombing an Imperial military compound in order to get supplies-much needed supplies-to the Alliance.
He'd much rather be flying cover like the Renegades.
"Rogue Leader," Narra's voice filtered through Luke's headset. "Do you copy?"
"I copy, Renegade Leader," Luke responded mechanically.
"We're moving into position now. Get ready."
Luke nodded to himself. "Copy." To the Rogues he said, "This is it, boys." He powered up his own Z-95, and the surrounding whine of engines told him the other Rogues had done the same.
"Rogue Two ready."
"Rogue Six ready."
"Rogue Three ready."
"Rogue Nine ready."
"Rogue Seven Ready."
"Rogue Four Ready."
Luke listened as they called in, the voices distant beneath the drumming in his ears. As he watched the hangar bay doors open, he forced his mind to focus on the task at hand. Brushing all negative thoughts aside, he took a deep cleansing breath. "Okay, Rogues," he called to them. "Follow me. Approach vector Sigma."
With that, he pulled his ship out of the bay and headed for the atmosphere of the planet Vi'tra before them. Checking his scopes, he saw that the rest of the Rogues were right behind him.
"Entering Vi'tra's atmosphere," he said into his comm. "Double power to front deflectors."
"Copy, Rogue Leader," Zev quickly replied.
Instantly, Luke felt the shift from space flight to atmospheric flight. He smiled in spite of himself. The feeling was comfortingly familiar. After all, he'd grown up flying like this, through the twists and turns of Beggar's Canyon. Images of Biggs Darklighter came unexpectedly to mind.
"Biggs would have loved this!" hollered Rogue Four.
Luke had to laugh. It was as though Hobbie had read his mind. His comment wasn't surprising, however, since Hobbie and Biggs had been on board the Rand Ecliptic together. "True, Four," he replied.
"Uh-oh, Luke," Dack cried. "Heads up. I just detected two ion cannon blasts."
Luke checked his scopes. The kid was right. "Okay, stay sharp. They know we're here!"
"That was quick!" exclaimed Zev.
"Keep close and stay on this vector," Luke instructed. "Our best bet is to hit 'em fast and get the hell out of here before they can launch an all-out defensive strike."
"I'm with ya', Boss," Wedge agreed.
"Where's the transport?" Six immediately asked.
Luke double-checked his readouts. "It's supposed to be at Point-Zero-Two-Seven," he answered, "But we're too far away for a visual confirmation."
Cannon fire erupted around them and Luke's ship bucked. Momentarily panicked, he glanced out of the cockpit, and he saw the laser mounts that were firing away at them.
"I hope we spot it soon, Luke," Tycho remarked, "because this welcoming party is a little too hot for me."
Luke swallowed. It looked this was going to be a bit more difficult than he'd initially feared. "Time to earn our pay, Rogues!"
**********************
From her seat in the cockpit of her X-wing, Genna watched and listened to the fight going on in the atmosphere of the planet below. Brilliant flashes of light seemed to punctuate the words of the pilots as they frantically sought the transport.
She heard one of the Rogues cry, "Luke, we've got about twenty skips coming in!"
Genna felt her blood run cold. Twenty skipray blastboats meant that the Empire was more prepared for their attack then they had bargained for. How much did the Imps already know?
"I see 'em," Skywalker shouted back. "Rogues Two and Seven , I want you to break off and head north. See if you can get a few to follow you. Rogues Three and Four, stay with me. Six, show me some of that fancy flyin'!"
"Will do, Boss," Celchu's voice rang out.
"Renegades," Narra's voice cried over the comm, bringing Genna's attention back to her own duties. "We've got trouble of our own. Two squadrons of TIEs headed this way!"
"Someone told 'em we were comin'!" she heard Renegade Four holler in alarm. "No way they could have reacted this fast!"
Genna had to agree with him. "Renegade Six," Genna spoke into her comm, "stay on my wing. Let's see what kind of damage we can do."
"I hear ya', Two," he replied.
Immediately she broke hard left and brought her ship around at an angle to face her opponents. Peripherally aware that Six was copying her movements, she did a quick assessment. Having served in the Imperial Navy, she knew their maneuvers as well as their weaknesses. If she could just keep ahead of them, it wouldn't matter that the Renegades were outnumbered. She'd be turning those TIEs into spacedust.
"Here they come," someone shouted.
Sure enough, they were breaking into various attack patterns and moving in on them. Within seconds, a full-blown firefight was underway.
"Stang! I've got one on my tail!" cried Seven.
"Pull hard right," Genna instructed as she moved in on two TIEs. She noted that Seven did as instructed, and Genna immediately pulled in behind the TIE as it swerved to maneuver back into attack range. The standard flight path was anticipated, and a second later, the TIE was no more.
"Thanks, Two," Seven called back.
"They're all over us!" Three screamed.
"How long 'til the Rogues get that transport?" Genna bit through clenched teeth as she tried to bring her ship around to help Three. Another TIE was blasted into oblivion.
"Rogue Leader, what's your status?" Narra asked.
Skywalker's strained voice broke through, replying, "We've got the transport in our sights, but these skips are more trouble than we bargained for."
"They're attacking the transport!" one of the Rogues cried out.
Skywalker swore. "They know what we're after!"
Another Rogue screamed, "Luke, I can't shake this guy!"
Genna immediately heard a Renegade echo the same plight, "Someone get this TIE off me!"
She moved to help, but it was too late. In a brilliant flash of light and dust, Renegade Five was gone. She brought her ship around and immediately sought retribution for their loss. The TIE that got Five was hit first, followed by one that moved in to Genna's flight path to get off a shot.
"We can't keep this up much longer," she growled into her comm.
Rogue Leader broke in. "The transport is away! She's all yours Renegades!"
Narra responded, "There are too many TIEs up here! We can't cover the transport."
"Rogues, how much help can we give 'em?" Rogue Leader called to his group.
Rogue Two replied, "These skips just won't leave us alone! I don't know how we're even gonna get back to the cruiser!"
"Renegades," Skywalker said, "we'll head up there as soon as we're clear."
Genna glanced back down at the planet's surface, angry and disappointed as she chased another TIE. "Well, don't do us any favors, Rogues."
She immediately regretted her words, as the frantic calls from one of the Rogues below suddenly ended in a burst of static. She swallowed hard, wondering whom it had been.
"Nine's gone, Boss," Wedge grimly reported.
Genna could hear the strain in Luke's voice as he said, "Okay, boys. Form up. Keep tight, follow my lead, and let's plow straight through. We're gonna take out as many of 'em as we can."
"Luke, that's crazy!" Dack cried.
Genna had to agree. Bringing her ship around, she maneuvered out of the line of fire of two more Imps, all the while keeping one ear trained on the Rogues.
Wedge was the one who rushed to the defense. "We're boxed in, Seven! You have any better suggestions?"
"Okay, I'm with you," Dack conceded.
"Let's go," Rogue Leader ordered. "As soon as we break through, keep those guns firing. Let's see how many TIEs we can nail as well!"
As Genna blasted yet another Imp, she suddenly realized what Tycho had meant about Skywalker. Sure, Luke's plan was downright insane, but they were out of options, and his men still had a mission to accomplish. She also realized that all of the rumors about the Rogues had been true. They were, without a doubt, the craziest bunch of pilots she'd ever met.
Now, she fervently hoped they survived.
*****************
Luke Skywalker stared out the canopy window, preparing himself for the fight ahead. The death of Rogue Nine had been hard enough to deal with. Kal had been a great pilot, and a good man. Now, however, there was the possibility that more of the Rogues would be lost in this mission. Knowing that the only chance he had at keeping himself and his men alive would be to open himself to the Force, he braced himself and lowered the mental "barriers" he had constructed. He didn't know what else to call them, and he'd never been sure how he'd learned to do this, or whether it was a skill he was even supposed to use. Somewhere during the past few months, however, he'd figured out that he could prepare himself to handle the deaths that occurred in battle by refocusing his brain to shield himself from being overwhelmed by the sensations. He couldn't block them out, but the mental preparations he took made them less emotionally taxing during the fight.
Now, however, he knew that he would have to erase all of those shields and open himself up completely if the Rogues were to survive.
"Help me, Ben," he murmured under his breath. His former teacher had guided him once, during the battle of Yavin. He'd felt his presence as surely as though the old man had been in the ship with him. He longed for that guidance again. Aloud, he said, "Ready, Rogues?"
"Right with you, Boss," Hobbie replied.
Luke took another deep breath. "Now remember," he instructed, "as soon as we're through, head for those TIEs and free up the Renegades!"
"Copy," Three responded.
Closing his eyes, he focused on feeling the Force. "Stretch out with your feelings," Ben had told him. "Let go." He tried.
Immediately, blasts erupted around him as the skiprays closed in. Startled, Luke was forced onto the defensive, firing furiously as he and the Rogues attempted to make a run for it. "We're not going to make it," he thought to himself.
Firing instinctively, his emotions a maelstrom, he didn't notice anything but the feeling of his hands on the flight stick and his thumb on the trigger. He didn't notice the almost imperceptible corrections he made in his flight path as his ship swept through the melee without even a scorch mark. And he didn't notice the precision of his shots. He didn't notice these things, yet he wasn't even aware of his failure to notice.
Suddenly, he was clear. His ship shook slightly as it pushed outward through the upper atmosphere and into space. It seemed to have taken no time at all to blast their way through, he thought absently. Shifting his focus to the TIEs that appeared in front of him and continuing to fire, he was barely aware of saying, "All Rogues, report your status." He listened half-consciously as, one by one, each Rogue called in.
Wedge reported in last, "Rogue Two here! I'll be damned! We all made it!"
Luke didn't have a chance to feel relieved, for at that moment, the Rogues were immediately swarmed by Imps. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, the Rogues moved into the fight. Reacting instinctively, Luke was barely conscious of anything but the task at hand. His ship banked and rolled, his thumb fired shots, and his awareness shifted from target to target as each presented itself. He was only vaguely conscious of issuing commands, responding to calls, and communicating with Renegade Flight, all of which he would not be able to recall later with any clarity. In what felt like moments, it was all over.
"I don't believe it!" Rogue Three gleefully cheered. "The rest of 'em are backing off."
"They know better than to mess with us," Five crowed.
Wedge laughed. "I think a bunch of 'em got scared by Madman Skywalker!"
"Yeah, Luke," Six commented, "what was that?"
Luke blinked, suddenly trembling all over from exertion as he came back into full awareness. "Huh?"
"Impressive flying, Rogue Leader," Commander Narra commented through Luke's headset.
Luke involuntarily shuddered, trying to piece together what had just happened. The battle was a blur. It was over before he'd really felt it had started. Drenched in sweat, he knew he'd fought through it, but he felt oddly detached from what had happened. It was as though his subconscious had simply taken over, guided by something he couldn't explain. The Force? It had to be. He couldn't recall having experienced it to this extent, however. Not even at Yavin had he given himself completely to the strange power Ben had awakened in him. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
He swallowed, about to reply to Narra, when something caught his eye. An X-wing was shaking violently, its pilot apparently trying to gain control with a busted stabilizer. He checked the markings. "Renegade Two, what's the problem with your stabilizer?"
He froze when the voice of none other than Genna Cage replied, "It's gone, that's the problem. Fried, along with my Astromech."
He swallowed hard. That wasn't good. "What about the rest of your systems?"
"Everything else checks out," she answered tensely, "but I can't make it to hyperspace."
Narra broke in, "Rogue Leader, is there room on the cruiser for one more ship? She may have to dock with you."
Luke suppressed a grimace, both at the idea of riding back with Cage and at being reminded of the loss of Kal. "Yeah, we've got room."
"Renegade Two," Narra ordered, "return to base with the Rogues. Renegade Flight, prepare for lightspeed on my mark."
As the Renegades prepared to jump to the rendezvous point, Luke turned his attention back to Cage's damaged ship. "Renegade Two, shut down and let her drift. We'll have the cruiser bring you in via tractor beam."
"Copy, Rogue Leader," she responded, and he could hear the irritation in her voice. He wasn't surprised, after all that had transpired recently. Now, to be rescued by the squadron she'd left was probably adding insult to injury.
Narra came through the comm again. "Rogue group, thanks for the assist. May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Renegades," Luke responded seconds before the transport and the Renegades jumped to lightspeed. He then called out to the Rogues, "Okay guys, let's get on board and out of here before those Imps have a chance to regroup."
"We hear ya', Boss," Wedge agreed.
Moving toward the cruiser, he hoped it was only Genna Cage and not her bad luck that was following him in.
Luke stared through the forward viewport of the Z-95 Headhunter's cockpit, wishing for the millionth time that he was on board his own X-wing. At least his X-wing had hyperdrive. He hated the fact that he and the other Rogues had to ride in the hangar bay of the Rebel Assault Cruiser, he hated the fact that the Rogues would have to maneuver their way back to the bay before they could get out of the system, and he hated the fact that they were essentially performing a bombing run. In fact, he hated just about everything to do with this mission.
He'd barely said two words to Narra after the briefing, although he'd wanted to. He'd wanted to express the feelings of betrayal, hurt, and anger that the establishment of Renegade Flight had caused. He'd wanted to ask him why there had been no prior notification of the new group. He'd wanted to ask him why they were getting the fun task of flying cover while Luke and the Rogues had to bomb the surface of the planet in order for the transport ship to take off. They were the distraction, while the Renegades were the defenders. When had the Rogues become so useless?
Taking a deep breath, he tried to channel all of his anger and hostility through the inhalation and then release it outward with his exhalation. Blinking his eyes at the interior of the hangar bay, he realized it hadn't worked.
"Tense, Boss?" Wedge's voice crackled over the comm.
Luke let his lips twitch upward in a smile that did not reflect how he truly felt. His sigh must have carried over the comm. "I'd be lying if I said I was happy about this."
"At least it should be an easy run," Janson piped in.
Luke shuddered. Maybe for the other Rogues, but not for him. The whole idea of a bombing run turned his stomach. This was different than chasing a single moving target and then vaping it before it could get a shot off at you. In the past month, he'd gotten better at being able to handle the Force repercussions of that particular task. He still felt shaken at the end of a mission, as though he'd been stained by the blood of those he'd slain in battle; and he still wished more than anything that he could simply turn the Force off or find some way to block that particular effect during a fight. However, until he learned how to control the Force better-if he learned how to control the Force better-he'd learned how to prepare himself mentally for the impact of his enemies' deaths. But a bombing run?
Ben had said that the destruction of Alderaan had felt like millions of voices crying out. Luke recalled how shaken and pale Ben had looked when it happened. He also recalled his own nightmares in the aftermath of Yavin. The overpowering sense of death had come as quite a shock to him, and the dreams had really rattled him at first. He had no intention of going through that again.
And yet, here he was. Bombing an Imperial military compound in order to get supplies-much needed supplies-to the Alliance.
He'd much rather be flying cover like the Renegades.
"Rogue Leader," Narra's voice filtered through Luke's headset. "Do you copy?"
"I copy, Renegade Leader," Luke responded mechanically.
"We're moving into position now. Get ready."
Luke nodded to himself. "Copy." To the Rogues he said, "This is it, boys." He powered up his own Z-95, and the surrounding whine of engines told him the other Rogues had done the same.
"Rogue Two ready."
"Rogue Six ready."
"Rogue Three ready."
"Rogue Nine ready."
"Rogue Seven Ready."
"Rogue Four Ready."
Luke listened as they called in, the voices distant beneath the drumming in his ears. As he watched the hangar bay doors open, he forced his mind to focus on the task at hand. Brushing all negative thoughts aside, he took a deep cleansing breath. "Okay, Rogues," he called to them. "Follow me. Approach vector Sigma."
With that, he pulled his ship out of the bay and headed for the atmosphere of the planet Vi'tra before them. Checking his scopes, he saw that the rest of the Rogues were right behind him.
"Entering Vi'tra's atmosphere," he said into his comm. "Double power to front deflectors."
"Copy, Rogue Leader," Zev quickly replied.
Instantly, Luke felt the shift from space flight to atmospheric flight. He smiled in spite of himself. The feeling was comfortingly familiar. After all, he'd grown up flying like this, through the twists and turns of Beggar's Canyon. Images of Biggs Darklighter came unexpectedly to mind.
"Biggs would have loved this!" hollered Rogue Four.
Luke had to laugh. It was as though Hobbie had read his mind. His comment wasn't surprising, however, since Hobbie and Biggs had been on board the Rand Ecliptic together. "True, Four," he replied.
"Uh-oh, Luke," Dack cried. "Heads up. I just detected two ion cannon blasts."
Luke checked his scopes. The kid was right. "Okay, stay sharp. They know we're here!"
"That was quick!" exclaimed Zev.
"Keep close and stay on this vector," Luke instructed. "Our best bet is to hit 'em fast and get the hell out of here before they can launch an all-out defensive strike."
"I'm with ya', Boss," Wedge agreed.
"Where's the transport?" Six immediately asked.
Luke double-checked his readouts. "It's supposed to be at Point-Zero-Two-Seven," he answered, "But we're too far away for a visual confirmation."
Cannon fire erupted around them and Luke's ship bucked. Momentarily panicked, he glanced out of the cockpit, and he saw the laser mounts that were firing away at them.
"I hope we spot it soon, Luke," Tycho remarked, "because this welcoming party is a little too hot for me."
Luke swallowed. It looked this was going to be a bit more difficult than he'd initially feared. "Time to earn our pay, Rogues!"
**********************
From her seat in the cockpit of her X-wing, Genna watched and listened to the fight going on in the atmosphere of the planet below. Brilliant flashes of light seemed to punctuate the words of the pilots as they frantically sought the transport.
She heard one of the Rogues cry, "Luke, we've got about twenty skips coming in!"
Genna felt her blood run cold. Twenty skipray blastboats meant that the Empire was more prepared for their attack then they had bargained for. How much did the Imps already know?
"I see 'em," Skywalker shouted back. "Rogues Two and Seven , I want you to break off and head north. See if you can get a few to follow you. Rogues Three and Four, stay with me. Six, show me some of that fancy flyin'!"
"Will do, Boss," Celchu's voice rang out.
"Renegades," Narra's voice cried over the comm, bringing Genna's attention back to her own duties. "We've got trouble of our own. Two squadrons of TIEs headed this way!"
"Someone told 'em we were comin'!" she heard Renegade Four holler in alarm. "No way they could have reacted this fast!"
Genna had to agree with him. "Renegade Six," Genna spoke into her comm, "stay on my wing. Let's see what kind of damage we can do."
"I hear ya', Two," he replied.
Immediately she broke hard left and brought her ship around at an angle to face her opponents. Peripherally aware that Six was copying her movements, she did a quick assessment. Having served in the Imperial Navy, she knew their maneuvers as well as their weaknesses. If she could just keep ahead of them, it wouldn't matter that the Renegades were outnumbered. She'd be turning those TIEs into spacedust.
"Here they come," someone shouted.
Sure enough, they were breaking into various attack patterns and moving in on them. Within seconds, a full-blown firefight was underway.
"Stang! I've got one on my tail!" cried Seven.
"Pull hard right," Genna instructed as she moved in on two TIEs. She noted that Seven did as instructed, and Genna immediately pulled in behind the TIE as it swerved to maneuver back into attack range. The standard flight path was anticipated, and a second later, the TIE was no more.
"Thanks, Two," Seven called back.
"They're all over us!" Three screamed.
"How long 'til the Rogues get that transport?" Genna bit through clenched teeth as she tried to bring her ship around to help Three. Another TIE was blasted into oblivion.
"Rogue Leader, what's your status?" Narra asked.
Skywalker's strained voice broke through, replying, "We've got the transport in our sights, but these skips are more trouble than we bargained for."
"They're attacking the transport!" one of the Rogues cried out.
Skywalker swore. "They know what we're after!"
Another Rogue screamed, "Luke, I can't shake this guy!"
Genna immediately heard a Renegade echo the same plight, "Someone get this TIE off me!"
She moved to help, but it was too late. In a brilliant flash of light and dust, Renegade Five was gone. She brought her ship around and immediately sought retribution for their loss. The TIE that got Five was hit first, followed by one that moved in to Genna's flight path to get off a shot.
"We can't keep this up much longer," she growled into her comm.
Rogue Leader broke in. "The transport is away! She's all yours Renegades!"
Narra responded, "There are too many TIEs up here! We can't cover the transport."
"Rogues, how much help can we give 'em?" Rogue Leader called to his group.
Rogue Two replied, "These skips just won't leave us alone! I don't know how we're even gonna get back to the cruiser!"
"Renegades," Skywalker said, "we'll head up there as soon as we're clear."
Genna glanced back down at the planet's surface, angry and disappointed as she chased another TIE. "Well, don't do us any favors, Rogues."
She immediately regretted her words, as the frantic calls from one of the Rogues below suddenly ended in a burst of static. She swallowed hard, wondering whom it had been.
"Nine's gone, Boss," Wedge grimly reported.
Genna could hear the strain in Luke's voice as he said, "Okay, boys. Form up. Keep tight, follow my lead, and let's plow straight through. We're gonna take out as many of 'em as we can."
"Luke, that's crazy!" Dack cried.
Genna had to agree. Bringing her ship around, she maneuvered out of the line of fire of two more Imps, all the while keeping one ear trained on the Rogues.
Wedge was the one who rushed to the defense. "We're boxed in, Seven! You have any better suggestions?"
"Okay, I'm with you," Dack conceded.
"Let's go," Rogue Leader ordered. "As soon as we break through, keep those guns firing. Let's see how many TIEs we can nail as well!"
As Genna blasted yet another Imp, she suddenly realized what Tycho had meant about Skywalker. Sure, Luke's plan was downright insane, but they were out of options, and his men still had a mission to accomplish. She also realized that all of the rumors about the Rogues had been true. They were, without a doubt, the craziest bunch of pilots she'd ever met.
Now, she fervently hoped they survived.
*****************
Luke Skywalker stared out the canopy window, preparing himself for the fight ahead. The death of Rogue Nine had been hard enough to deal with. Kal had been a great pilot, and a good man. Now, however, there was the possibility that more of the Rogues would be lost in this mission. Knowing that the only chance he had at keeping himself and his men alive would be to open himself to the Force, he braced himself and lowered the mental "barriers" he had constructed. He didn't know what else to call them, and he'd never been sure how he'd learned to do this, or whether it was a skill he was even supposed to use. Somewhere during the past few months, however, he'd figured out that he could prepare himself to handle the deaths that occurred in battle by refocusing his brain to shield himself from being overwhelmed by the sensations. He couldn't block them out, but the mental preparations he took made them less emotionally taxing during the fight.
Now, however, he knew that he would have to erase all of those shields and open himself up completely if the Rogues were to survive.
"Help me, Ben," he murmured under his breath. His former teacher had guided him once, during the battle of Yavin. He'd felt his presence as surely as though the old man had been in the ship with him. He longed for that guidance again. Aloud, he said, "Ready, Rogues?"
"Right with you, Boss," Hobbie replied.
Luke took another deep breath. "Now remember," he instructed, "as soon as we're through, head for those TIEs and free up the Renegades!"
"Copy," Three responded.
Closing his eyes, he focused on feeling the Force. "Stretch out with your feelings," Ben had told him. "Let go." He tried.
Immediately, blasts erupted around him as the skiprays closed in. Startled, Luke was forced onto the defensive, firing furiously as he and the Rogues attempted to make a run for it. "We're not going to make it," he thought to himself.
Firing instinctively, his emotions a maelstrom, he didn't notice anything but the feeling of his hands on the flight stick and his thumb on the trigger. He didn't notice the almost imperceptible corrections he made in his flight path as his ship swept through the melee without even a scorch mark. And he didn't notice the precision of his shots. He didn't notice these things, yet he wasn't even aware of his failure to notice.
Suddenly, he was clear. His ship shook slightly as it pushed outward through the upper atmosphere and into space. It seemed to have taken no time at all to blast their way through, he thought absently. Shifting his focus to the TIEs that appeared in front of him and continuing to fire, he was barely aware of saying, "All Rogues, report your status." He listened half-consciously as, one by one, each Rogue called in.
Wedge reported in last, "Rogue Two here! I'll be damned! We all made it!"
Luke didn't have a chance to feel relieved, for at that moment, the Rogues were immediately swarmed by Imps. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, the Rogues moved into the fight. Reacting instinctively, Luke was barely conscious of anything but the task at hand. His ship banked and rolled, his thumb fired shots, and his awareness shifted from target to target as each presented itself. He was only vaguely conscious of issuing commands, responding to calls, and communicating with Renegade Flight, all of which he would not be able to recall later with any clarity. In what felt like moments, it was all over.
"I don't believe it!" Rogue Three gleefully cheered. "The rest of 'em are backing off."
"They know better than to mess with us," Five crowed.
Wedge laughed. "I think a bunch of 'em got scared by Madman Skywalker!"
"Yeah, Luke," Six commented, "what was that?"
Luke blinked, suddenly trembling all over from exertion as he came back into full awareness. "Huh?"
"Impressive flying, Rogue Leader," Commander Narra commented through Luke's headset.
Luke involuntarily shuddered, trying to piece together what had just happened. The battle was a blur. It was over before he'd really felt it had started. Drenched in sweat, he knew he'd fought through it, but he felt oddly detached from what had happened. It was as though his subconscious had simply taken over, guided by something he couldn't explain. The Force? It had to be. He couldn't recall having experienced it to this extent, however. Not even at Yavin had he given himself completely to the strange power Ben had awakened in him. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
He swallowed, about to reply to Narra, when something caught his eye. An X-wing was shaking violently, its pilot apparently trying to gain control with a busted stabilizer. He checked the markings. "Renegade Two, what's the problem with your stabilizer?"
He froze when the voice of none other than Genna Cage replied, "It's gone, that's the problem. Fried, along with my Astromech."
He swallowed hard. That wasn't good. "What about the rest of your systems?"
"Everything else checks out," she answered tensely, "but I can't make it to hyperspace."
Narra broke in, "Rogue Leader, is there room on the cruiser for one more ship? She may have to dock with you."
Luke suppressed a grimace, both at the idea of riding back with Cage and at being reminded of the loss of Kal. "Yeah, we've got room."
"Renegade Two," Narra ordered, "return to base with the Rogues. Renegade Flight, prepare for lightspeed on my mark."
As the Renegades prepared to jump to the rendezvous point, Luke turned his attention back to Cage's damaged ship. "Renegade Two, shut down and let her drift. We'll have the cruiser bring you in via tractor beam."
"Copy, Rogue Leader," she responded, and he could hear the irritation in her voice. He wasn't surprised, after all that had transpired recently. Now, to be rescued by the squadron she'd left was probably adding insult to injury.
Narra came through the comm again. "Rogue group, thanks for the assist. May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Renegades," Luke responded seconds before the transport and the Renegades jumped to lightspeed. He then called out to the Rogues, "Okay guys, let's get on board and out of here before those Imps have a chance to regroup."
"We hear ya', Boss," Wedge agreed.
Moving toward the cruiser, he hoped it was only Genna Cage and not her bad luck that was following him in.