PART 4: PILOT

CHAPTER 15: Battle

"If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when to push it and when to back off." —Chuck Yeager

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Luke made the jump into hyperspace with no problems, the ship already feeling like a second skin to him. However, once he was in hyperspace, there was nothing to occupy his hands, which meant his mind was left similarly unoccupied. It didn't take long for a dozen thoughts to begin an assault on his brain. Strangely, it was not the Death Star that was foremost on his mind.

Instead, he found himself thinking primarily about Darth Vader and Mara Jade. As Imperials, they were his enemies. In theory, it was that simple, but it didn't really feel simple at all.

He knew where he stood with them—they wanted him to convert to the Dark Side and join them. They did not want to kill him or hurt him.

But it was strange—surely, the struggle they would go through to convert him would not be worth whatever abilities or potential he would bring to the Empire. If Vader wanted an apprentice, he could always find one in Mara Jade. She was intelligent, resourceful, loyal...and he wouldn't let his thoughts go any farther than that. Still, he had to wonder—with Mara Jade around, why was Vader pursuing Luke's allegiance?

The answer was simple. It was because he was Vader's son.

Luke could have dismissed Vader's obsession with him as just being the Sith Lord's suffering from a what's-mine-is-mine complex, but he knew that wasn't it. The monster had once been a man in love—Luke was the living proof of that. Perhaps he wanted Luke because he was something that remained of his dead wife. And if that was so, it must mean there was still good in him, right?

As for Mara—Luke didn't think she had ever truly been consumed by the Dark Side. If he could turn Vader back to the Light, it would mean she would no longer have a dark master to serve...Would she be able to still hold on to the Empire when the main focus of her life was gone?

Maybe—just maybe—there was hope for them both.

Luke had never thought of himself as anyone's savior, not even when he was willing to sacrifice himself that the Death Star might be destroyed—he had just done what he had thought should be done. But perhaps he could find a way to save these two lost souls. Maybe he could be a savior.

It was then that he decided he would become a Jedi. He had to try to tear the two Force users away from the Dark Side's influence and let them find peace at last. To do so, he would need to bring them to the Light—but he couldn't do that if he wasn't well-acquainted with the Light Side himself.

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The Rebel fleet grouped together very quickly. A few minutes passed to allow any stragglers to arrive, and then the ready signal was given, and the amassed Rebel ships all made the jump into hyperspace. A few more minutes later, they were facing the planet Despayre.

"They knew we were coming!" one of the Red Squadron pilots—Elyhek Rue—exclaimed almost immediately.

"Cut the chatter, Red Seven," Red Leader commanded.

Elyhek's statement appeared to be only partially correct. Three Star Destroyers orbited the planet, but most of their fighters were not deployed, which seemed to indicate that the Empire had harbored suspicions of an attack but had possessed no knowledge of when it would actually come. Fortunately, the Alliance had been able to send some capital ships to the foray, and those ships quickly moved toward the Star Destroyers to keep them occupied.

Though they had thought to send such heavy firepower to Despayre, the Rebel leaders knew that the determiners of this battle's outcome would actually be starfighters. The only danger the Star Destroyers posed to the quick Rebel ships was their possession of starfighter squadrons of their own.

"All wings report in," Red Leader commanded. After the eleven pilots in his squadron sounded off, he said, "All right. Lock S-foils into attack position."

Luke's hands brushed the controls, and the wings of his ship unfolded. Then he moved in formation with the rest of Red Squadron, and they approached the Death Star. Their movements weren't perfect, as the squadron was mostly made up of rookies, but there was still a beauty about the whole proceeding which the young man admired.

"We're about to pass through its magnetic field," Dreis pointed out, "so hold tight and switch your deflector shields on."

The X-wings were buffeted as they entered the magnetic field, but they soon stabilized. Artoo whistled something, and Luke shook his head in amusement. He felt almost as if his veins were on fire. There was something exciting about this battle, something which called to him...

Red Squadron's commander broke into his thoughts with a command: "Double front!"

Luke brought his thoughts back to his present task, and he, along with the rest of Red Squadron, continued to approach the still-unfinished Death Star, which seemed to loom larger and larger.

Wedge exclaimed in amazement, "Look at the size of that thing!"

Luke had to struggle to keep a smile off his face. Look at the size of it, indeed.

"I said to cut the chatter, Red Two," Red Leader admonished. "Now, accelerate to attack speed, Red Boys! This is it!"

The plan was for Gold Squadron to head for the target shaft while Red Squadron flew cover. The Y-wings of Gold Squadron were slow but powerful, and it was hoped they would be able to reach the thermal exhaust port before very many Imperial fighters were deployed.

As the Y-wings approached their destination, Red Squadron dove toward the space station's surface. As expected, some Star Wings—which looked a lot like modified Lambda-class shuttles—came to intercept them, but the X-wings were too fast to be easily taken down. The Star Wings then switched their attack to Gold Squadron, which Red Squadron was trying to keep them away from.

"After those fighters, Red Boys!" Dreis called out.

The X-wings broke formation to pursue the Star Wings. The Imperial fighters had strong shields and ion cannons, but their slow maneuverability was a definite disadvantage.

"Good shot, Wedge!" Biggs exclaimed as one of the Star Wings was taken down.

Luke watched with a small smile as a blip disappeared from his screen. Though he hadn't known them for long, he already felt proud of his squadron mates. Without good men like these, the Rebels wouldn't have a chance. As it was, Luke felt hopeful, if worried.

"TIE Fighters coming in," Red Leader warned them. "Let's get back down to the Y-wings."

The Y-wings were strafing the Death Star's surface, and the TIE fighters seemed to be gunning for them. Things were starting to look bleak for Gold Squadron.

"Heavy fire, Boss," Wedge said in warning. The Death Star's turbolasers—operational, as it had been feared—were letting off several dangerous volleys.

"I see it," Red Leader noted grimly. "Stay low."

His fingers twitching for action, Luke said into his headset, "This is Red Five. I'm going in!"

He began a quick nosedive, his lasers flaring and causing several small but short-lived fires. Then there was a sudden massive explosion on the Death Star's surface, and the young man's breath caught in his throat.

"Luke, pull up!" Biggs cried out.

But there was no time, and Luke found himself flying through the fireball. After a span of a few seconds during which he wasn't sure if he would live or die, Luke brought his starfighter out of the fire and upward.

"You all right?" Biggs asked concernedly.

He was all right, though his ship was singed. "I got cooked a little," he admitted to his wingman, "but fortunately I think it was a little too rare for Piggy's tastes."

"I heard that," the corpulent pilot said sourly.

Biggs chuckled into his headset.

"Red Five, let me know when you're going back in," Red Leader ordered. His ship was being pelted by flak, and he flew past Luke and began his attack dive.

"I'm going in now, sir," Luke said.

"Be careful," Dreis warned. "There's some heavy fire on the right side of that deflection tower."

"All right," the young man replied with a nod. He took his X-wing into a barrel roll and was soon down by the Death Star's surface, destroying first a few radar emplacements and then a TIE Fighter which was pursuing Red Leader. His ship got hit by a lot of noisy flak, but he nevertheless felt almost triumphant. This was flying!

"Thanks, Red Five," Red Leader said appreciatively. After a few seconds, he noted, "Several more enemy fighters coming our way."

Six TIE Fighters were approaching. The X-wings continued their strafing run—the Star Wings had pulled away, of no use against the X-wings—and Luke's wingman soon picked up a tail.

"I've got one behind me," the Tatooinian pointed out, his voice sounding slightly panicked. He was twisting his ship around in an attempt to lose the fighter, but it wasn't helping. "I can't shake him!"

The TIE sent several blasts at Biggs that missed but came too close to home to cause any sense of relief. Biggs moved closer to the Death Star's surface, but the TIE was still closely on him.

Luke dove down toward his wingman. "Hang on, Biggs, I'm coming." Luke's fingers flew across the controls, letting loose a barrage of laser blasts at the TIE Fighter.

The Imperial ship exploded, and Luke cried out triumphantly, "Got him!"

"Thanks, Luke," Biggs said, sounding relieved.

Wedge's fighter was above Luke's as he shot at and finally destroyed a TIE Fighter. "Watch your back, Luke," he cautioned. "There's a fighter above you, coming in."

Luke pulled his ship up away from the Death Star's surface. The TIE managed to get a shot off at him, causing a small fire on the right side of his X-wing. Luke twisted to look out of his cockpit at the flames on his fighter. "I'm hit, but not bad," he told his squadron mates over his headset. To his astromech droid, he said, "See if you can do anything with that fire, Artoo."

The droid beeped in affirmation; he was already on it.

The TIE Fighter was still behind him. Luke's hands flew across the controls, but this guy was good, and he couldn't shake him. "I've got a tail," he noted, trying to remain calm. It was closing in on him.

Biggs began to move toward him. Luke was skilled enough with his ship that the TIE couldn't get another clear shot at him, and seconds later Biggs was shooting at the enemy fighter.

"Hold on, Luke," Biggs gritted.

A few seconds later, the TIE went up in a ball of flames.

"Thanks, Biggs," Luke breathed. That had been close.

"Hey, that's what wingmen are for! I protect your back—you protect mine."

"I'll remember that," the newest member of the squadron smiled.

Minutes later, three Y-wings from Gold Squadron were starting their attack run, diving down into the Death Star trench. The Death Star's turbolasers fired at them, mostly missing, but then one of the Y-wings went up in flames. The other two continued on.

As the pair of Y-wings zoomed down the trench, Red Squadron tried to keep the TIE Fighters occupied. It was a tough job—the Star Destroyers and the Death Star had finally started deploying more fighters. Soon, the Rebel forces would likely be overrun.

"Switch to your targeting computer," Gold Leader told his wingman as he approached the exhaust port.

A few seconds later, the other Y-wing pilot noted, "My computer's locked. I'm getting a signal." A laserbolt grazed his ship's side, but he ignored it. A few minutes later, he gave a gasp and said, "The guns—they've stopped."

And indeed the turbolasers were no longer actively pursuing the Rebel crafts. And then three TIE Fighters, one of which seemed to be a modified version of the typical TIE, were moving down in perfect formation toward the Death Star's surface. Less than a minute later, the modified TIE had shot down Gold Leader's wingman.

Panicking, Gold Leader exclaimed, "I can't maneuver!" He tried moving his fighter about in a zigzag pattern, but the TIEs were locked on to him resolutely.

The modified TIE, which was being flanked by the other TIEs, assaulted the Y-wing with a barrage of laser blasts. The Rebel fighter burst into flames and crashed into the trench.

Luke had just shot down a TIE when he saw the last Y-wing blip disappear from his screen.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed it. "Red Group, this is Red Leader," Dreis said soberly, a 'get ready' tone in his voice. "Rendezvous on my mark." He looked at his scopes and then rattled off the rendezvous point.

"Copy, Red Leader, this is Red Two," Wedge said as he flew his X-wing over to the designated area.

"Red Three, standing by," Biggs said.

"Red Five is ready," Luke said calmly.

"Red Ten is also ready."

"Red Twelve here."

"Only half of us will go on this run," Red Leader noted. "Luke, you'll take Reds Two and Three. Wait here for my signal to start your run."

"Copy that, Red Leader," Luke said. Really, the plan made him nervous—he was probably a lot less experienced than Biggs and Wedge, yet he was to take charge of them? Had his scores on the sim really been that good?

"Ten and Twelve, you're with me," Dreis noted.

And then Red Leader, Red Ten, and Red Twelve were beginning their trench run.

Luke and his two wingmen flew high above the Death Star, shooting down five nearby TIEs, three of which were hit by Luke. After Luke's third such accomplishment, Wedge whistled. "Stang, Luke, leave some for the rest of us, huh?"

"Sorry," Luke said sheepishly. But he wasn't really sorry, and he found himself grinning.

A few minutes later, Luke's eyes were glued to his scopes worriedly. "Watch out, Red Leader. Three fighters coming down at you."

"Thanks, Red Five," Dreis said. "I see them." As the TIEs approached, he commented, "I'm in range," and turned on his targeting computer. "Almost there! Hold them off for a few seconds."

And then suddenly the three TIEs were behind him in the trench, and their leader—who was piloting the modified TIE—was destroying Red Twelve.

At the loss of his squadron mate, Red Ten—Theron Nett—began to panic. "You'd best let her loose, Boss."

"Almost there," Dreis noted, sounding as if he were trying to will himself to reach the needed position in front of the exhaust port.

"I can't—I can't hold 'em!" Red Ten cried out in a panic. When Vader's lasers hit him, he screamed briefly over his headset and was then silent.

The grim Red Leader continued, carefully watching his targeting computer. "It's away!" he said triumphantly after shooting the proton torpedoes at the exhaust port. He pulled up out of the trench and began zooming away from the Death Star.

Several seconds later, Red Leader was sighing. "That's a negative. The shot didn't go in—it just impacted on the surface." His disappointment was obvious.

"All right, Red Leader," Luke said over his headset, "we're right above you. Move to point oh-five, and we'll cover for you."

But Red Leader was being shot at by the three TIEs. "No need to approach me," the squadron head said grimly, examining his ship's controls. "I've lost my starboard engine. Prepare for your attack run."

"Red Leader—" Luke said quietly, his throat tight.

But then the TIE leader's shots made direct contact, and Garven Dreis went into a tailspin shortly before his ship impacted with the Death Star's surface. Another bright light gone out.

Luke swallowed, feeling a wave of helplessness wash over him. But this was no time to despair or mourn those who had died. This was the time to be a leader. "Biggs, Wedge, cover me. We're going in full-throttle."

"We're with you, Luke," Wedge said.

Luke nodded to himself and took in a deep breath. It was time for their attack run.

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Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys!