Once again, I am totally fabricating the hanger of a Star Destroyer.

This chapter was so much fun to write. I think it might be my favorite chapter yet. I hope you all enjoy it!

"Faster, you guys!"

Star and Marco ignited their lightsabers, deflecting away the stormtroopers' barrage of blaster fire as they ran. Janna and Rosado returned fire, but taking aim backwards while running was nearly impossible, and their luck was limited.

"Faster!"

The voice of a stormtrooper crackled over the bridge comm. "They're heading for the hanger!"

"Sounds like the Emperor's secret project wasn't enough to stop them after all," Admiral Oswego said quietly.

Either Darth Vader did not hear the Admiral's remark, or the Sith Lord simply chose to ignore it. "They will not escape," he calmly informed the stormtrooper captain via the comm channel. "The ship is in security lockdown mode. Even if they do manage to reach their ship, it will be impossible for them to breach the hanger door. Maintain pursuit, Captain. They will be trapped once they reach the hanger. Eliminate them."

"It will be done, My Lord."

The corridor ended in a "T". To the right was maintenance; Left was the hanger. "This way!" Rosado called, leading his new companions to the left. Almost instantly, his stomach turned into a knot. "Oh, boy…" He could see the blast door at the end of the corridor had been closed, too. It wouldn't take him long to get it open, but it would slow them down enough that the pursuing stormtroopers would significantly close the gap between them.

"You can get that open, right?" Marco asked, flipping his lightsaber over his shoulder to deflect another blaster bolt.

"Yeah, but it'll take a second."

"We'll hold them off while you get the door open!" Janna said. "Just hurry!"

While being pursued by a flock of hostiles, the corridor felt almost infinitely long, but the group reached the closed blast door fairly quickly. The two Jedi took up defensive positions shielding their friends while Janna returned fire. Rosado, meanwhile, wasted no time inputting the security code to unlock the blast door.

The trio of fighters had better luck now that they could fight their attackers face-to-face. The stormtroopers also halted pursuit. Too close proximity would present themselves as easy targets with no cover whatsoever in the empty corridor. Janna managed to fell seven troopers, and Star and Marco combined for a dozen more. Star's skill deflecting blaster fire had always been her strongest ability with a lightsaber, but she found that, with her new cybernetic right arm, her fine motor control had been improved, and it was even easier to redirect the blaster bolts straight back at the stormtroopers who had fired them with precision accuracy.

Unfortunately, for every trooper the three teenagers shot down, two more would arrive to take their place.

"Got it!" Rosado yelled as the blast doors slowly retracted into the walls. "Let's go!" He joined Janna in returning fire as they hurried backwards through the doorway into the hanger. The stormtroopers resumed pursuit.

"Rosado! Get the door closed again!" Janna yelled.

"Oh! Right!" He hurried to the door controls on the hanger side, quickly sealing off the corridor and preventing the stormtroopers from following.

"Status report," Admiral Oswego commanded.

An officer listened to the comm closely for a moment, then provided his superior with an answer. "The Jedi have made it to the hanger, Sir, and sealed the blast door behind them. The pursuing troops are already beginning to cut through as we speak. Also…there are two other people with them."

This news surprised Admiral Oswego. "Two others? Who?"

"Captain Ordonia," Vader droned, not waiting for the officer to answer.

"But she's locked up in the brig."

"She has escaped."

"Impossible! She's only a teenager!"

"She had help. I sense a traitor in our midst."

Admiral Oswego's face contorted in anger. "A traitor! On my ship?!"

"I cannot discern their identity, but it matters not." Vader briskly turned on his heel, aiming to leave the bridge. "I am going down there."

"My Lord, may I remind you, there is still a piece of metal through your shoulder? How can you fight?"

Vader paused at the door for the briefest of moments. "There are other ways to prevent their escape, Admiral."

"That isn't going to hold them long," Rosado said, stepping back from the door controls.

Star and Marco switched off their lightsabers, but kept them at the ready. Behind them stood the Raventalon, patiently awaiting their arrival.

Janna smiled. "There's my girl." Then frowned. "How'd it get here?"

"I'll, uh, tell you later?" Rosado said, nervously rubbing his neck. "We gotta get the hanger door open. The Destroyer is in security lockdown, so only someone with high-level security clearance can access the controls." He flashed his code cylinder. "Which, fortunately, I have." Now it was his turn to frown. "Kinda surprised they left the hanger unguarded, though..."

As if answering his question, a blaster bolt suddenly ripped from the far side of the hanger and struck Janna squarely in the right arm, causing her to drop her blaster.

"GAH!" she groaned loudly as she sank to one knee.

"Janna!"

Clutching her arm in pain, Captain Ordonia spoke through gritted teeth. "They did not leave the hanger unguarded."

More fire followed as a dozen stormtroopers emerged from behind the various components of Galen Erso's prototype. Star and Marco quickly sprang back into action, igniting their lightsabers and shielding Janna and Rosado from the onslaught.

"Hovis! How do we get the hanger door open?" Star cried.

"The hanger controls are over there!" Rosado pointed to a tiny room jutting out of the same bulkhead as the door they had come through, fifty yards down. The room was surrounded almost entirely in transparisteel. It also happened to be about halfway between them and the attacking stormtroopers.

"Right! I'll cover you!" Star said as she managed to fell one of the enemy troopers with a reflected shot. "Marco, get Janna onboard the ship and help her get it ready to take off!"

"Right!"

Star backed closer to Rosado. "Alright, stay close! Let's go!"

They took off running toward the control booth. Marco didn't really know if he could trust Rosado yet, but he didn't have time to dwell on that question. He turned his attention to Janna. She was still on her knees, clutching her arm in pain. "Come on, Janna, let's go!"

"Let's." Gingerly picking up her DC-17, she tried to stand, but refused to let go of her burning arm and was very unsteady. Marco changed his lightsaber handling to a one-handed grip and helped his friend to her feet while he continued to deflect away the blaster fire. "Thanks," Janna said through gritted teeth.

"Go! Go!"

The boarding ramp of the Raventalon wasn't far. Janna ran for the ramp as fast as she was physically able, the jolt of every footfall sending a shock of pain through her right arm. Marco stuck right with her, keeping himself between his friend and the incoming fire as they ran. He could see Star and Rosado ducking into the hanger control booth just as they made it to the safety of the ramp.

Still under fire, Star and Rosado dove into little enclosure and Star switched off her lightsaber, mostly because the space was so small she was afraid she might accidentally strike her new companion with the blade. Rosado wasted no time inserting his code cylinder into the receptacle on the control panel.

"You're positive you can override the lockdown?" Star asked.

"Yes." Rosado moved to the console computer. "The only other person aboard with clearance as high as mine is the Admiral."

"What about Darth Vader?"

A chill shot down Rosado's spine at the sound of the name as his subconscious conjured an image of the towering Sith Lord arriving on the scene, stalking straight toward him. "I mean, yeah…but Vader doesn't usually make lockdowns. He orders them." As he finished speaking, Rosado noticed something. Or rather, a lack of something. The stormtroopers had ceased firing. "Hey, did they-?"

And then a new sound reached his ears: hurried footsteps, rapidly growing closer.

Star reacted before Rosado could say anything further. She jumped back out through the door to meet the approaching stormtroopers, who were shy of reaching the control booth by a scant 10 meters or so and, before they could so much as raise their blasters to take aim, released a powerful Force-push that sent the entire company flying backwards. As the stormtroopers picked themselves up off the deck, she ignited her lightsaber and took a defensive stance. "Hovis, you'd better hurry up!"

"I got it!" he called. "Security lockdown is overridden! Opening the hanger door…now!"

As the stormtroopers' opening salvo of blaster fire began, the huge hanger door released its stranglehold on the Moonshadow. The Raventalon was now free.

Hovis grabbed his blaster from where he'd tossed it on the control panel and peaked his head out the door. He squeezed off a half-dozen shots and managed to take down one stormtrooper. Star had shot down three more with their own deflected blaster bolts.

"Go!" Star called. "I'm right behind you!"

Vader's commlink chimed, and he answered it without stopping. "What is it?"

"Lord Vader, the security lockdown was overridden and the hanger door has been opened."

Vader returned the commlink to his pocket and quickened his pace.

Just as Star reached the bottom of the boarding ramp, the blast door through which the group had entered the hanger suddenly fell out of its track, and dozens of stormtroopers raced from the corridor.

"Oh, crud! Star!"

"Don't stop! Just keep going!" Star yelled, running backwards up the ramp as she twirled her lightsaber in a rapid defensive pattern. The instant the pair cleared the top of the ramp, Star grabbed the ramp control and yanked it down. Two stormtroopers managed to make it onto the ramp, but Star sent them flying off with another Force-push. She switched off her lightsaber and sprinted for the cockpit, and this time, Rosado followed her.

"We're here, Janna! Go! Go!"

Janna was not seated in the pilot's chair. Instead, she was hunched over the controls. The burning in her arm only intensified when she straightened her elbow, or stretched it. So, in order to reach the controls with her good arm and avoid worsening the pain in her injured arm, Janna brought the engines of the Raventalon to life from an awkward, hunched-over standing position.

Marco stood beside her, watching. He'd already offered to help, but considering he had very little idea what any of the many, many unlabeled toggles did, it was best if he just stayed out of the way.

By the time Janna heard the hydraulic whine of the boarding ramp retracting and Star yelling for her to take off, the ship was ready to fly. Her left hand on the control yoke to hold the ship steady, she reached for the throttle with her right-

"Aahhh!" Shooting pain struck her arm, and she was unable to lift it.

Marco stepped forward, laying one hand on the throttle. She looked up in surprise and opened her mouth to say something, but the young Jedi just smiled at her. "I got it. Guide us out, Captain."

She breathed. "Nice and easy there, Diaz."

Marco nodded and eased the throttle forward just as Star and Rosado made it up the cockpit. The Raventalon rose off the deck and Janna guided it toward the hanger door. As the bow broke the plane of the door, she carefully grasped the yoke with her right hand so she could reach over and switch over from repulsor to sublight control with her left.

"We did it! We escaped!" Star cried happily.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth, the ship came to a rough stop.

"What happened?" Rosado asked. "Did we hit something?"

"No…"

Marco eased the throttle forward and the engines whined, but still the ship refused to advance.

Then the Raventalon began to creep backwards.

"Aw, kriff, they've got us in a tractor beam!" Janna groaned.

"Can't be!" Rosado said. "I disabled the tractor beam when I overrode the security lockdown!" He leaned over the copilot's side of the controls and craned his neck to see out the window. "Well, it's not a tractor beam, but depending on how you look at it, it might be worse."

Darth Vader stood statue-still just past the corridor mouth, his good arm outstretched before him, open palm aimed toward the Raventalon, holding the YV-560 back with the Force.

"Bring the rocket launchers," he commanded calmly.

Janna was unfazed. "If it's not a tractor beam, we have a chance." She pointed at Marco and Rosado. "You two, on the canons, now."

"On it." Marco relinquished his grip on the throttle and led the way out of the cockpit, Rosado close behind.

"Star, come'ere." Janna slid off the pilot's seat, still holding the control yoke with one hand. "Hold this steady."

"Uhh…okay." Star carefully took the controls, slipping into the pilot's seat as Janna vacated it.

Captain Ordonia, meanwhile, took up the copilot's position. Still favoring her injured right arm, the fingers of her left hand danced over the controls, bringing the weapons system online.

Marco slid into the seat of the ventral canon, and Rosado took the dorsal gun. "You know how to use one of these, Dude?" Marco called up to the Imperial traitor as he strapped on the headset and situated himself in the seat. Through the canopy window, he could see Darth Vader down below, slowly growing closer as the Sith Lord dragged the Raventalon backwards into the hanger.

"Uh…I've fired canons before. Just never one quite this…old." Rosado examined the small readout. The targeting system was not like any he had ever trained on before.

"Take my advice," Marco said. "Forget the targeting computer. Just feel it. Oh, and by the way, don't shoot off the radar dish."

"What now?"

Marco was about to explain when he noticed two stormtroopers emerge from the corridor mouth and pause beside Vader. Each was carrying a very large, very heavy-looking rocket launcher. "Oh, boy. That can't be good."

Suddenly, the targeting computer screen came to life as the weapons system powered up. Marco wasted no time. He quickly swiveled the canon toward Vader.

Using the Force to hold back an entire starship at full-throttle takes an immense amount of concentration and focus. Darth Vader was not so deeply entranced in the task, however, to not notice the ventral canon of the Raventalon turning toward him. With scarcely a millisecond to spare, he stepped out of the laser's path, losing his Force-hold on the ship and allowing it to tear out of the hanger as the laser slammed into the bulkhead behind him and exploded, sending the Sith Lord tumbling end over end through the air and landing hard on the deck near the control booth.

A brief shriek of surprise escaped Star's throat as the ship she suddenly found herself in full control of rocketed out of the hanger of the Moonshadow. Then, when she realized they hadn't crashed:

"Woo! We're home free!"

"Marco, did you get him?" Rosado's voice inquired over the comm.

"I don't know. He was right in my sights, but…I really don't know. Something tells me I didn't."

Janna quickly powered up the shields. "Stay frosty, everyone. That Star Destroyer is probably gonna fire on us. Star, just put as much distance between that Destroyer and us as possible."

"They won't shoot at us," Rosado said calmly.

Janna raised a skeptical eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"Because I disabled their primary weapon system. Turns out the console for the hanger controls is connected to the main computer."

Star smiled, not averting her eyes from the emptiness of space ahead of her. "I like this guy already. Hey, did you want to take the controls again? You know I don't really know how to fly."

Janna shook her head. "Nope. You're doing fine. I gotta program the navicomputer to take us back to Takodana so we can pick up Tom and Pony Head." She squinted at the gray, cloud-shrouded planet outside the viewscreen. "Yo, Rosado, where the heck are we? What system is this?"

"We're in the Penagosis system. That planet down there would be Elkeenar."

"Geez, I never even heard of this system. Gonna take me a minute to plot a hyperspace route back to Takodana-"

But Janna was cut off as a an indicator light below the console began to flash, accompanied by an electronic warning chime.

"I may not be a pilot," Star said, "But I'm pretty sure rapidly flashing lights that go beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep aren't a good thing."

"Yeah, it's not." Janna checked the readout on the console. "Something is coming out of hyperspace."

They didn't remain in suspense for long. A large, trapezoidal ship nearly as wide as it was long dropped into real space a few hundred meters off the Raventalon's bow. The main superstructure supported a secondary deck hanging underneath, the glowing blue shields of four rectangular hanger bays drawing the eye.

"What the heck is that?" Star asked.

"That is a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier," Rosado answered. "They're used for-"

Before he could continue, dozens of TIE-fighters poured from the hanger bays like a swarm of carnivorous insects vacating their nest.

"…Never mind, I think you got it."

Star twisted the control yoke hard to starboard and banked the Raventalon through an about-face turn. "What do I do, Janna?!"

Captain Ordonia was already flicking switches. "Don't panic. We'll just do a hyperspace micro-jump to escape. Just give me a second here…"

"Janna, those fighters are gaining on us awfully fast!" Marco said over the comm.

Indeed, the TIE-fighters were faster than the YV-560, and they were creeping up on freighter.

"Don't worry, almost got it…there. Alright, Star, grab that lever." Star grasped the hyperdrive lever with one hand, and Janna reached her left hand across her body to grab the other one. "Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three!"

The girls pulled the levers back in tandem and were greeted by a dejected whirring sound.

Star blinked. "Um…shouldn't we be going really fast now?"

"My former compatriots disabled the hyperdrive, didn't they?"

Janna didn't bother answering Rosado's question. She just narrowed her eyes and slumped back in the copilot's seat. "Well played, Vader. Well played."

"Uh, Janna? What do we do now?" Star was handling the control yoke with a white-knuckled grip.

Janna checked the radar screen. The TIEs were moving around too quickly to count, but she estimated there were close to fifty. And they were closing in rapidly. "You're gonna have to lose 'em. We'll have a better chance if you head for the planet surface," she replied, pointing toward the gray planet of Elkeenar below. "And you should probably throttle up."

"Uh…okay." Star reached for the throttle lever and pushed it up against its stop, accelerating the Raventalon to its top speed. "You sure you don't wanna fly? This seems like the kind of thing that would be better suited to an experienced pilot."

"You're gonna need me over here," Janna said, knowing full-well that Star didn't know the function of the hundreds of switches and buttons on the control panel. "Besides, with this arm…"

"Right…"

Janna gave her friend a reassuring smile. "You're doing great, Star. Just keep it steady and level once we're in atmosphere."

"You got this, Star!"

Marco's words of encouragement sparked determination. Star shoved the control yoke forward and aimed the ship toward Elkeenar, the Raventalon streaking toward the planet's surface.

Even with the sublight engines at full power, the TIE-fighters were still quicker in a straight line. The swarm of Imperial ships gradually gained on the teenagers' freighter until, just as the Raventalon broke through the upper atmosphere, they drew to within firing range.

And fire they did. A blanket of green lasers streamed across the sky, so many so that the YV-560's shields would run out of charge in an instant and the ship would be ripped to shreds. But therein lies the advantage of having a Jedi at the controls. Just as the Force showed Star the exact location in space of every blaster bolt fired in her direction while she wielded her lightsaber, it also provided her a clear picture of the lasers about to pummel the ship. She shoved the control yoke forward and the Raventalon's gentle decent became a nosedive. The enemy fire streaked overhead before Marco or Rosado, who could see the enemy ships through their bubble canopies, could warn her. The TIEs quickly pursued, increasing the angle of their own dove to place the freighter in their sights.

But this time, Marco and Rosado were ready for them. The canons spat back their own hail of green laser fire, and so plentiful were the enemy fighters that it was actually difficult to miss. The first two TIEs sustained stabilizer damage that caused them to spiral out of control almost simultaneously. One of them careened into another fighter, and three fighters fell from the sky within the first three seconds of returned fire. Marco managed a direct hit dead-center on another TIE, and the ensuing explosion took out another. Rosado grazed two more, enough to send them spinning toward the ground.

Quickly realizing they presented too easy a target, the Imperial pilots split up, adopting less linear flight paths. Even so, Rosado managed to take out one more, and Marco two.

The Raventalon descended from the clouds, revealing the barren and rocky surface of Elkeenar.

"Sheesh. What a boring planet," Janna muttered.

"Hey, Star!" Rosado yelled over the comm. "Go low!"

That didn't do anything to ease Star's flying nerves. "Low? Like, 'close to the ground' low? Where crashing happens?"

"I've heard it messes with their targeting!"

Star looked at Janna questioningly. Captain Ordonia just shrugged. "Worth a shot. If nothing else, at least they won't be able to get under us."

"Okay, I guess…" Star shoved the yoke forward again and the Raventalon dove for the ground. She pulled out of the dive just in time to avoid skimming the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and small rocks. Marco was still firing back at the TIE fighters, and didn't notice the Elkeenar surface racing up to meet him until it was suddenly a scant few meters below the turret canopy. It took him so by surprise that he thought they were about to crash and his stomach leapt into his throat.

"How's this?" Star looked over to Janna for confirmation and found her friend desperately holding onto the control panel with her good hand, her unblinking eyes the size of biometric scanner modules.

"Uh…yeah. T-That's great, Star. I don't think you could get much lower."

Star smiled to herself as she juked the ship to port to evade a volley of laser fire. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this!"

As their target skimmed the planet's surface, the TIE fighters chose to remain at a slightly higher altitude, allowing them to rain fire down upon their target. For the most part, it didn't seem to be working; Their shots were not very accurate. As Rosado had said, their targeting was somewhat scrambled this close to the ground, and what few shots came close enough to actually hit the freighter, Star could easily evade.

But while the TIE-fighter pilots' luck was limited, so too was that of the Raventalon's gunners. The ventral canon could not take aim at the fighters overhead, except on the occasion that one or two would drop down to fire on the ship from directly behind, which would allow for easier manual targeting. When they did, Marco's Force-aided aim was deadly. But up in the dorsal canon, Rosado wasn't having much luck. He grazed a few TIEs, but only two were damaged badly enough to result in a crash. They zigged and zagged so rapidly that he couldn't keep them in his sights.

"I'm not having much luck up here!" Rosado called down the ladder shaft which ran down from his turret to Marco's. "Maybe we should switch!"

Marco was about to agree when another TIE dropped down on their stern. He squeezed the trigger, and in just two shots, the fighter was dealt with, tiny fragments of its disintegrated stabilizers scattered across the rocky landscape. "Just keep firing!" Marco called back. "Even if you aren't hitting them, you're keeping them from being able to get lined up to fire on us!"

The haze faded as the Raventalon streaked across Elkeenar's surface, and in the distance appeared the outline of a jagged mountain range rising out of the relatively consistent rocky terrain.

Star narrowed her eyes. "Hmmm…mountains. That gives me an idea…"

With the Raventalon's engines at full power, the ship tore across the wasteland at almost a thousand kilometers per hour, so it took very little time to reach the foothills of the mountain range. But Star didn't give the Raventalon any additional altitude.

"I don't know what you're doing, but-"

"Don't worry, Janna, I got this!"

Star grasped the throttle and reduced power, turning the freighter sideways to squeeze through a narrow valley. The TIEs gave chase, and two collided in a fiery inferno as they aimed for the gap.

The concentration on Star's face was intense. She juked the Raventalon between mountain peaks, and down narrow canyons where the freighter barely fit, yanking and twisting the control yoke with speed and precision that Janna could only dream of. The Force was her guide. Star always knew exactly what lay around the next blind peak or bend well before she could see it.

The TIE-fighters, on the other hand, could not. While their smaller size and greater maneuverability was better suited to navigating the tight passages of the mountain range, the pilots at their controls had no idea what they would encounter next. Rosado and Marco took their hands off the canon controls, partially because they didn't have the time to aim amidst the rollercoaster which they were a passenger aboard, and partially because the TIE's were constantly crashing. With nearly every turn, another explosion would echo through the mountain range as another fighter slammed into a rock face, or plummeted to a canyon floor after knocking loose a stabilizer on a rock formation in their path.

"I'm starting to not feel so great," Marco groaned.

"You throw up in my ship and you walk home, Diaz!"

Their target's lack of return fire did not dissuade the TIEs from shooting. Green lasers poured from their guns any time the Raventalon even remotely looked as though it were in their sights. Every missed shot sent a spray of rock and ash spewing from the mountainside. Star rolled the ship over as she crested over the top of a conical formation of rock in her path to avoid a volley, and as she brought the ship back to level, something caught her eye: the mouth of a huge cave.

"Janna, this Baby have lights?"

"Yeah, wh-?"

Star shoved the yoke forward and the ship dove for the cave's gaping maw. Janna scrambled to power up the exterior lights as the ship plunged beneath the planet's surface.

The cave was plenty large enough for the Raventalon, the rock carved out in a fairly symmetrical ellipse, almost to the point of appearing man-made.

The TIE-fighters did not hesitate to follow. Their quarry was essentially boxed in, unable to dodge their lasers, and the leaders of the pack unleashed a hail of deadly fire. Marco and Rosado returned fire, and managed to destroy several more, but not enough. The ship rocked and shuddered as the Imperials' lasers impacted on the hull.

"I hope you've got a plan," Janna said, "Because the shields are really taking a beating."

"Uhhhhhh…" Star's eyes scanned her surroundings outside the viewscreen, hoping for inspiration.

It struck.

"Janna, I need you to transfer all available power to the engines!"

"Um…why?"

Another laser struck the hull, and the Raventalon shook violently. "No time to explain, just do it!"

Not bothering to waste time replying, Janna quickly set about complying with Star's request, madly flicking switches and making adjustments. She powered down everything from the interior lighting to the life support, and even the shields and weapons systems.

"Uh, my canon just went offline!"

"Mine, too!"

The girls ignored them. "Now drop the landing gear!" Star yelled.

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

Janna stood and yanked down the overhead lever, wondering what her companion could possibly be planning to do. A hydraulic whirring accompanied the lowering of the landing gear.

Star tightened her grip on the control yoke until her fingers ached. "I hope this works!" She hauled back hard on the controls and rolled the ship to port, edging slowly over in the same maneuver until the landing gear made contact with the cave wall. With one hand, she shoved the throttle forward against it stop and the engines screamed as they propelled the ship forward. Star forced the yoke hard to starboard and the ship flipped upside down, directed by the cave walls. She continued to yank the yoke over until the ship had traveled up and over the top of the cave, simultaneously reversing direction, until the Raventalon was right side up once again, now on the cave floor and racing back toward the entrance.

The TIE fighters zoomed overhead and Star coaxed the ship back into the air. Some of the TIEs attempted an about-face, but even their far superior maneuverability would not allow them to turn around inside the cave, and they smashed headlong into the walls. The ensuing fireball and debris field damaged a number of other fighters, and their flights were cut short as well.

The Raventalon burst from the cave into the light of Elkeenar's sun, and at last, Star drew the throttle back down. "Are any of them still on us?" Star asked.

"I don't see any," Marco replied.

Smiling to herself, Star looked over at Janna, who seemed to be frozen in terror. "I can't believe that worked," she said sheepishly.

Captain Ordonia slowly turned her head. "I can't believe you just did that with my ship."

Marco's voice on the comm suddenly interjected. "I can't believe I haven't thrown up yet."

"I can't believe any of you are still alive!" Rosado nearly yelled. "You kids are nuts!"

A nervous laugh was the only response Star could offer.

Janna turned her eyes toward the heavens. The Star Destroyer and carrier were clearly visible. "We gotta put as much distance as possible between us and that Destroyer so I can figure out what the Empire did to disable our hyperdrive. Yo, Rosado! What systems are near here?"

"Uh, not many, let's see, uh- Guys, there's-!"

The Raventalon shuddered as laser fire struck the unshielded hull. Three TIE-fighters screamed past, turning around in a wide arc to line up for another strafing run.

"Kriff! There's still a few left!" Janna counted six contacts on the scanner.

Star shoved the throttle forward and the YV-560 shot ahead, the TIE-fighters hot on its tail. Janna scrambled to power up the shields and weapons. The shields quickly responded, but as she tried to bring the canons online, a warning chime began to sound, and the control panel lit up with red indicators.

"Karabast!"

"Janna, we need the guns!" Marco called.

"I can't! They hit the thermal extractor for the weapon system power supply!" She turned to Star. "We're defenseless, Star. You got any more tricks up your sleeve?"

Star was busy jerking the ship left and right, trying to avoid the lasers raining down on them. "If I think of something, I'll let you know."

The ship rocked again as another TIE hit its mark. Another warning buzzer went off. "The shields have already taken a beating. We can't take much more of this."

The TIEs had spread out and were moving to box the Raventalon in. One took up the space to the freighter's port side, another took starboard. One more sat directly below, preventing the ship from dropping altitude. The remaining three flew in formation directly to the ship's stern, prepared to unleash hellfire.

Marco's voice crackled on the comm."What do we do?"

Janna sadly looked away from the radar screen. "They've got us surrounded. It's over."

"It can't end like this!" Star cried. "There must be something we can do!"

The ship jolted again as the TIEs opened fire. Within seconds, the Raventalon's shields were disabled, and the first strike struck the hull, just behind the dorsal bubble canopy. From his spot in the gunner's seat, Rosado could see flames and smoke trailing from the ship.

"Well, at least we went down fighting," Rosado said quietly.

Star slumped down in the pilot's seat, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, guys."

"You did awesome, Star. It's my fault," Janna said. "I wasn't paying attention, I should have gotten the power back on sooner."

"Goodbye, guys," Marco said softly.

Everyone shut their eyes and braced for the final impact that would send the Raventalon down in flames.

But when the explosion came, it was not the Raventalon, but one of the TIE-fighters abruptly erupting in a ball of fire.

Marco opened his eyes, just catching the tail of the explosion. "What the…?"

Then a second TIE exploded, and the remaining four broke formation, zooming away.

Star quickly sat up, gripping the control yoke and dropping altitude, hoping to return to the safety of the mountains below. "What the heck was that?"

A mysterious starfighter suddenly shot past overhead, visible from the forward viewscreen. A chime accompanied the flashing of the incoming message indicator on the comm. "I don't know, but they're hailing us," Janna said, and she reached for the button to put the transmission through.

A familiar voice came over the comm. "Looks like you guys could use a hand!"

Star's eyes widened in shock. "Is that…is that TOM?!"