Luke was maneuvering through swarms of TIEs in his clawcraft. He had Ensign Kuth and a young Chiss lieutenant as wingmates. Three TIE and one Preybird squadron from the Chimaera were added to the Force assembled on Nirauan. That was his biggest worry. Neither of the two types of fighters had hyperdrives, like Chiss clawcraft did. That would mean that, if things turned sour, one of the Star Destroyers would have to either wait and risk getting destroyed or leave the fighter pilots behind. And with the odds as they were, things had a very high chance of going sour.
"Beta Squadron," he said, "attack that corvette, four degrees up. And loosen up your formation."
"Acknowledged, Commander."
"We're attacking their fleet?" Ensign Kuth asked him.
"They'll wear us down otherwise." That was all he could reply. Their real plan had to be kept secret to achieve surprise.
"Yes, sir," Kuth replied, and destroyed a TIE fighter across her path. Its squadron immediately rushed towards them.
The Chiss pilot destroyed one of the attackers, but another got behind Kuth. She jinked to avoid the bolts, when Luke dropped behind her and shot the fighter down.
"I'm all right, sir," she reported. A New Republic pilot would probably thank him, but Imperials were trained differently. Luke scanned the battle. He didn't like what he saw.
XX
On the bridge of the Chimaera, Soontir Fel surveyed the battle. "Sarim gathered a larger force than we thought," Adriff told him.
"Good," Fel replied.
"Good? How can that—"
"Never mind. Sent out a distress call on this frequency, intense directed hyperwave," he ordered. "Break through their jamming."
The communications officer looked skeptically at Fel and Adriff. "Sir?" she said. "This is a Rebel frequency."
"Do it," Fel ordered.
"Aye-aye, sir."
"We must hold out, Captain," Fel said. "The Redoubt has been taking the brunt of the damage, but her shields are close to breaking. "Use Mon Calamari blink code to sent a message to Firestorm to cover her."
"Right away, sir."
Communication was only possible between very close ships—like fighters from the same squadron flying together—because of Sarim's jamming. Sarim's forces, on the other hand, seemed coordinated, despite jamming equipment on the Redoubt. No. The battle was not going well.
XX
Wedge Antilles looked at the communication he had just received. He expected it, but hoped it wouldn't come. But it had, and he knew what he had to do.
"Lando, prepare to launch all fighters at once."
"Roger, Wedge," Lando replied.
"Prepare for a jump to the following coordinates," he said, before giving the location.
"Imperial space, sir?"
"Imperial space," Wedge replied grimly.
"Fleet reports ready, sir."
"Jump on my mark," he said. And then he gave one final order, one that hasn't been heard on the Lusankya since Carnor Jax ran the Deep Core Remnant.
"Full battlestations!"
XX
Roxad Sarim watched in glee. Even the largest of the enemy ships wasn't faring well under concentrated turbolaser fire from his fleet. He knew Fel was a traitor, but now, the Corellian has shown himself a fool as well. He smiled. He never liked Corellians.
Then, a shadow appeared over his ship. "What's that?" he demanded.
"Sir, a Super Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace!"
"What? There are no active—"
"Look for yourself, sir," the officer told him.
No doubt about it. The enormous ship was right on top of them.
"We can still outgun them! Concentrate fire on it!"
"They're launching fighters!"
"Let them. If that was Fel's hope, he is still a fool."
"Sir—they're jamming us! We can't raise anyone!"
XX
Luke twisted his clawcraft out of enemy fire, when the Lusankya popped up right in front of them.
"Kuth, pull up!" he shouted, but Tennah was already doing so. His Chiss wingmate was a bit slower, but he didn't collide with the massive ship either.
"What is that?" Kuth asked, incredulously.
"It's the Lusankya," Luke replied. He then listened in on the command circuit.
"General Antilles to General Fel," Wedge called out.
"Fel here. A few more minutes, and you wouldn't find us here alive," he said.
"Some family reunion," Wedge joked. "We're jamming them, and if you route your communications through us, you can contact each other, despite their blocks," he said."
"Acknowledged, Antilles."
Luke followed up on Wedge's suggestion to reestablish communication. "This is Skywalker," he said. "Third Fleet fighters, acknowledge."
Reports began flowing in. Not all squadrons had used the Lusankya's facilities, but most did. "What's going on here?" someone demanded.
"We've got help," Luke replied. "Cut the chatter. Gamma, Epsilon, and Kappa-3 squadrons, form up on me. We're taking down their shields."
Three squadrons—the Preybird one from the Chimaera and two of clawcraft—followed him. Luke headed towards the enemy flagship.
XX
Kyp Durron sat in the hangar bay of the Lusankya, in the pilot seat of an assault shuttle. Chewbacca sat next to him as copilot, Karrde and Shada behind, and a platoon of New Republic commandos in the hold. He awaited the signal.
"Durron, you are clear for launch," the control said. "Rogue Squadron will escort you."
"Acknowledged, control," Kyp said. "Let's do this."
He fired the engines and flew away from the Lusankya.
"Shields up, Chewie," Kyp said. He shook his head. "They don't even have to try to hit us."
He flew towards the Star Destroyer Conqueror, determined to be the flagship. But the enemy clearly understood, if not their overall plan, then that the shuttle was dangerous. Several squadrons of fighters headed towards them.
"Karrde, Shada, take the guns," Kyp ordered. "Time for some fancy flying!"
The enemy fighters opened fire, and Kyp turned the shuttle away from the stream of bolts. Karrde and Shada fired back, while Rogue Squadron picked off the attackers.
There were still too many, and the enemy sent more towards them. Kyp saw two X-wings from Rogue Squadron flash up and vanish, felt the shuttle's shields buckle...
Then several of the strange fighters with curved wings flew past them, destroying enemy TIEs. "Kyp!" a familiar voice contacted him.
"Master Skywalker? What are you doing here?"
"Long story. What's your plan?"
"Land inside, take out the admiral," Kyp replied.
"We'll clear the path for you," Luke said. "Stand by."
XX
Luke ordered the Kappa-3 clawcraft squadron to remain near the shuttle and keep enemy fighters off, while his two wingmates and Gamma Squadron plowed on ahead. "We need to be able to blow their hangar bay shield right on time," Luke said. "Arm torpedoes."
"I don't have any—" Kuth began.
"I know. Take the fighters."
"Roger," she acknowledged.
"We're in position," Kyp said. "I have the target in sight.
"Gamma squadron, forward!" Luke ordered.
He blasted several of the fighters that tried to block them. They destroyed one of the clawcraft, but scattered.
"Locked on the shields," his Chiss wingmate said.
"Fire!" Luke said and fired his own torpedoes. Then he let Kyp's shuttle fly by.
"Good luck," he told Kyp, as the shuttle, despite breaking one of its wings on the rapidly shutting emergency door, vanished into the Conqueror's hangar.
"Break formation!" he yelled. As soon as the squadron did so, a rain of turbolaser bolts hailed through the space they just left.
"I'm hit!" his Chiss wingmate yelled.
"Eject!" Luke ordered, but the clawcraft exploded.
Damn, he thought. Turning, he cast a last look towards the Conqueror, and sped towards the battle.
XXX
Leia climbed out of her office, clinging to the building walls. The chasm below was many kilometers deep. Unfortunately for her, all the security precautions would now work against her. For example, the shield protecting the top of the building, where her office was, wouldn't let any vehicles approach.
She climbed down, hanging on the edge of the outer walkway by her fingertips. "Madam Chief of State?" Fey'lya, who finally climbed out, asked her, looking from above. "What are you doing?"
"Getting down," she answered, and, summoning the Force, pushed herself.
Flying under the bulge that the top floor of the building represented, she grabbed onto the ledge on the floor below. Blood came out of her fingers, but she knew she couldn't let go. She climbed up and lay, breathing heavily.
"I am alive, Councilor," she assured Borsk. "But I wouldn't advise you to try this yourself. I needed to use the Force."
She punctured a small hole in the window with her lightsaber. As soon as she did, she detected the distinct smell of knockout gas. Quickly using a Force-breathing exercise Luke taught her, she purged the gas out of her system. Then she climbed one floor further down. This was easier, as the ledges all extended the same distance.
"So what is a mere mortal like me supposed to do?" Fey'lya demanded.
Leia shrugged before realizing the Bothan didn't see her. "I don't know," she said. "Figure something out." She took out her frustration on him. This floor also appeared flooded with knockout gas.
She ignored everything Fey'lya said after that, which became easier as he was harder to hear as she climbed down. Eight floors below, she finally found a place that wasn't flooded. She cut the window open and climbed inside.
The place was some sort of storage room. Leia ignored it, heading for the exit. She had to get back in control of the situation as soon as possible.
She heard footsteps. Turning towards them, she ignited her lightsaber, ready for more assassins.
Two Noghri appeared. Leia stretched out with the Force, and confirmed that they were the real Noghri. Senate security personnel followed them.
"Lady Vader," one of the Noghri greeted her.
"Madam Chief of State," the security man said. "Thank the Force you're alive."
"There is no time for that," she cut him off. "The seven floors above us are flooded with knockout gas. Someone wanted to keep me there very badly. I need to go to the General Staff immediately."
"Yes, ma'am," the Senate security man replied. He took out his comlink. "Get a secure shuttle ready."
Leia smiled. She purposefully didn't tell them about Fey'lya. If they thought there wasn't anyone important up there, they wouldn't be in a big hurry, and she could finish her job without interruption.