*** Chapter Twenty- Two ***

When Padme returned to Coruscant after her brief time fighting in the war, she had changed. No longer was the girl child with a propensity of service, in her place a woman who was finally able to see the full berth of the galaxy as it was. No longer did her role seem like a constant study politics, she was ready to lead, she had grown up.

The Life and Times of Amidala, the People's Queen, By: Softa Jiane, Oralist and Historian

The red Squadron, led by Wedge Antilles, met in the rendezvous spot quickly organized by the New Republic. Just 2 hours after the call had gone out, there were already a dozen other X-wing Squadrons along with another dozen support ships and a few rag tag ships that had been flying with the fleet for years, including the infamous Millennium Falcon. What they were lacking was an actual command ship.

Wedge was impressed, he had been with the Rebel Alliance years before the battle Yavin and this quick assembly outnumbered the entire fleet in the old days. He knew this was just a small fraction of the New Republic forces.

"Hold for further instruction." He spoke into the closed communication unit shared by squadron. It was a common command, even in the most exciting battles, there was always wait.

His comm unit came to life, this time the address on the channel shared by the entire New Republic fleet. "This is General Solo reporting from the Millennium Falcon, there is currently a blockade of civilian ships encompassing the planet of Naboo. We believe this is a planned attack on the New Republic delegation currently on the surface. Once we clear the blockade, we will land for ground assault. We have foot soldiers on the way, but we may also need pilots on the ground as well. We do not clearly understand of the current planet side threat and will likely deploy a small exploratory to better understand the situation."

Wedge switched over to a private channel where he would be able to discuss privately with Han, while Wedge still command an X-Wing squadron, he and Han were the two most senior officials and they were expected to lead this battle and give everyone else their orders and there was not much time.

"Han, look at those ships, there are a lot of them, but there not designed for a real fight." Wedge explained.

"Maybe even too many of them." Han replied, an idea formulating in his mind.

Wedge caught on, "What if we just out maneuvered them, if they try to chase an X-wing, this mess will wind up tangled around each other."

"You ready to go live?" Han questioned.

"Let's do it." Wedge flipped back to shared New Republic channel and addressed his troops.

"Red one, two three, position counter up five degrees, Red three, four, five, position counter down five degrees, Red six, seven and eight, position clockwise up five degrees, blue one two and three position clockwise down five degrees….:" Wedge continued to place X-wings in a loose net around the block aide. Giving orders for the X-wings to break formation was terrifying but a the more traditional formation was likely to create the worst defeat and the worst causality count of the short-lived New Republic. "Approach slow and then pull back as quickly as possible." Wedge explained, "But don't pull back straight, pull back a at an angle, fligh tight."

Wedge had pulled back far enough so that he could watch the battle, the Millennium Falcon idled next to him. As much as he would have wanted to be in the battle, without a proper command ship, someone need to be able to set back and direct the battle.

Wedge watched as the first group of three X-wings progressed slowly towards the blockade, specifically a group of three portly pleasure Yachts that did not look like they could move at anything besides a slow jaunt through space. They had guns, aftermarket and badly placed with limited range. One of the Yachts sent a shot through space, and the X-wings in the line of fire easily avoided it. Finally, the X-wings were in rang. The Yachts fired a few more times with little effect, the X-Wings had yet to release fire.

The three X-Wings then stopped in front of the Yachts for a fraction of a second, before pulling back in series of unpredictable movements, the X-Wings zipping past each other in dangerously proximity. It was the sort of flying X-Wing pilots loved but often got reprimanded for during training exercises as it was for too dangerous. Wedge was unsurprised to hear whoops of enjoyment coming through the Comm.

The maneuver also had its desired effect, the Yachts attempted to chase the X-wings, as expected but the X-wings had both far superior speed and maneuverability. The Yachts also each went after the X-Wings that had baited them, which meant that their trajectory was in the others path and as the X-Wings careened towards open space, the Yachts rammed into each other, exploding into nothingness.

In another moment, it happened again with another two freighters and then again with three small clunky personnel vehicles.

After just ten minutes or so, the blockade was thinning but the ships were holding, having realized the tactic, which meant Wedge had to move on.

"Red, Blue, Yellow Squadrons, some method, but now I want you to shoot on the pull back. Aim true, for critical areas. We've already seen how limited these shields are, and if we shoot, they'll want the chase. Make sure you are far enough to run before you shoot." Wedge gave the orders, still in his position far enough away where he could view the battle without participating. "All bigger ships, prepare for blunt force, the X-wings have knocked a bunch off, but I think we are going to have to start the breakthrough shortly."

Wedge flipped his channel to the direct link he had to General Ackbar, "General, we are breaking through, but we are still massively outnumbered. I think we may be able to move planet side, but I am unsure we'll be able to get off. The blockade is easy to get through, but by sheer numbers alone we will never be able to take them all down, we will run out of fuel and fire power first."

"Thank you, Commander Antilles, can you cut the blockade by another third, have Solo take a squadron planet side for exploratory and then you come with the rest to the deep space rendezvous point, I'm gather more fire power but we will need as much as possible to eliminate the blockade entirely." Ackbar grumbled the orders.

"Yes Sir," Wedge responded and then flipped back to channel in which they were communicating for battle and gave the new orders.

Wedged watched another 20 minutes of the cat and mouse game, the blockade ships getting tangled in their own rush as the nimble X-Wings darted in and out of the space mess. The blockade, while still sizable was small enough with enough holes for a single X-wing Squadron and the Millennium Falcon to slip through. Wedge took the rest and retreated as instructed.

Han Solo slipped through the holes in the blockade with minimal damage, but that was just the start, the Millennium Falcon and the X-Wing Squadron needed a place land.

"Chewie, pull the local map for this planet." Han said from his position in the Captain's seat, his focus tuned to his surroundings, flying through a blockade was not exactly risk free.

"RRRWARES."

"I don't know, you've been doing just as long as I have, you chose." Han responded without taking his eyes off the windshield and dashboard.

"HUMMERED."

"If there is enough room, a park is probably a good idea, there's no way we'll get into a spaceport, based on what we know, this planet is likely already at war." Han said, they were running out of time, rushing through the planet's atmosphere, the surface just moments away, X-Wings careening down with them.

"RRRRRWARES."

"It's near Theeds?

"RRRRRRWER."

"Alright buddy let's do it, it's not like we have good options here.