Chapter 9

Keldu was up and running to one of the Cosmic Dragon's three newly installed gunner mounts before Nerca even shouted the order. Because the gunner mounts were so new, Keldu hadn't yet had the opportunity to test one. She had helped Nerca install the mounts, but so far Nerca was the only one to test them.

Keldu jumped into the transparent ball, yanked the com head-set off of the wall and fitted it haphazardly. The small targeting computer switched on. Nerca had installed a small low-class targeting computer on the assumption that the Jedi probably wouldn't need it.

Keldu's comlink sounded. "Gunners. Knights, shoot to disarm not to kill. Jesbra, your mount over shoots to the left."

"Got it, Nerca."

"Keldu, yours goes over the top."

"Ok, Nerca."

"I'll melt the docking claw you take care of the guns. Nail one in the stabilizer or engine and it'll spin out," Nerca said.

"Got it," Oliso said.

"Ready …" Nerca said. Keldu readied herself, waiting for Nerca. Keldu heard Nerca swap to the wide-range com. "Uunjai Police and Security Force take this!"

Keldu saw torches and Nerca's pilot-controlled quad-laser cannons on the police freighter's five-'fingered' claw and melt through it with ease. Nerca jerked the Cosmic Dragon free and tore off with the freighter following.

"Go!"

Keldu began to shower the police freighter's upper left torpedo launcher but most of her shots missed wide over the top. Keldu knew that it was because her vision still clung to her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment and summoned the Force. Keldu calmed herself trying to perfect her battle mindset.

"Cosmic Dragon, cut your engines!" the wide range com exclaimed. "Stop running or you'll be breathing vacuum!"

"Not a chance," Nerca said sternly. Then Nerca switched back to the to ship wide com. "Watch it! Reinforcing double-man fighters at…" She listed coordinates for each gunner. "Keldu wake up! You've got a swarm headed your way."

Keldu's eyes flew open and she could just see more fighters coming into view. She swiped the vision into the far corners of mind trying to deal with the task at hand. She tightened her hands until on the controls until her knuckles turned white.

The first fighter swept close to her side, trying to land a couple of shots in on the left engine.

"Keldu, hold him off till I get the energy shields up," Nerca said.

"Will do." Keldu switched from lasers to ion cannons and snapped of a couple of shots at the fighter's forward shield generator. The first missed as he dodged right but the second nicked his shield.

"Shields are up at maximum," Nerca said, just as a laser bolt struck near Keldu's mount. The shield absorbed it like a sponge. Keldu snapped four more shots at the shield generator. The first two weakened the shield and the third nailed it. The fighter's shield went down in a blue flash and Keldu had a clear shot at its cockpit and weapons controls.

"Shoot to disarm, not to kill," Lexoc reminded them from the Cosmic Dragon's own cockpit.

A blow to the cockpit would most likely kill the pilots. Keldu took a couple of shots at its weapons control, but the fighter rolled right. She rotated her mount to follow the fighter, snapping off more missing shots.

An ion bolt streaked past from Oliso's mount on top of the Dragon. It missed as the fighter dodged right again and Keldu tracked it.

"Oliso, let me take care of my own," Keldu growled. She checked her readouts fast, looking for an excuse to have Oliso get off. "You've got your own to take care of," she confidently stated.

"Alright, alright. Just trying to help."

Oliso's mount turned back to her own fighters and began firing.

"Keldu, finish that thing!" Jesbra exclaimed. "You've got more headed your way too."

Keldu's eyes ran over her readouts, checking for ships on her side but she saw nothing. "My readouts say negative. There's nothing over here."

"Well, just look!" Jesbra said. "Trust visuals over readouts."

Keldu did and spotted three smaller fighters heading toward her. "Nerca, my readouts aren't working!"

"You'll have to use the Force," came the reply. "I never quite finished that mount."

An ion bolt struck the shield near Keldu and drew her attention back to the first fighter. She rolled left to follow it and all of her targeting equipment totally shut down.

"Nerca!"

"I told you that one needed some work," Nerca growled back.

Keldu snapped off a shot at the weapons control trying to guide it with the Force. It struck and destroyed, but not before a proton torpedo came streaking toward the Cosmic Dragon.

The Dragon wouldn't be able to raise its minimal particle shielding in time and evasion was next to impossible…

That shot could end the Kindred Knights forever.