The green bolts of turbolaser fire soared through the space around Keyan Farlander's Y-wing as he maneuvered his starfighter towards the surface of the Death Star. His astromech droid warbled on as it reported on the current battle situation. Gold Leader and his two wingmen were about to make their move for the surface, and the rest of Gold Squadron was ready as well.
He quickly juked away from an incoming turbolaser shot that had swiftly closed the 13-kilometer distance from its origin to the Rebel group. He checked the ship's chronometer, watching as the time until the Death Star entered the firing range of Yavin 4 ticked away.
"Red Leader," Gold Leader reported, his voice being carried to every ally in the system.
"I copy, Gold Leader."
"We're headed for the target area now," Gold Leader said as he began to right his ship in relation to the surface of the monstrous superweapon.
"We'll try and draw their fire from you," Red Leader replied as he ordered his entire squadron to engage the Death Star.
Luke eased his X-wing over the metallic surface, avoiding the numerous spires and towers that would spell the certain doom of a novice pilot. The turbolasers struggled to bring their payloads around onto the tiny targets streaking past them, but the starfighters proved to be far too fast for them. It didn't stop them from trying, however. Luke flew through a storm of fire that threatened to vaporize his craft. His developing danger sense forced him into a quick dive under a lucky shot that would have caught a non-Force-sensitive pilot. After quickly pulling back up from his dive to avoid hitting an obstacle jutting out from the surface, Luke glanced at his sensor screen for signs that Biggs and Wedge had survived the attack. He was relieved to find both of their fighters behind him, and he slowed down to rejoin his group.
A few seconds after Luke Skywalker barely avoided being disintegrated, Obi-Wan Kenobi squeezed the trigger of his R-22, sending two fire-linked red bolts of energy into a turbolaser emplacement. His wingmates joined in, their X-wings punching holes into the thick durasteel plating. Obi-Wan finished the badly damaged emplacement off with two quick shots, the shots punctured the remaining armor and tore through the Tibanna gas that powered the laser. The remains of the turret exploded, sending debris flying into space.
Obi-Wan piloted his R-22 towards a nearby deflection tower, steering the fast craft through the heavy fire of the point-defense guns. He opened his comlink to his two wingmates.
"Blue Two and Blue Three, how's your proton torpedoes?" he asked as the deflection tower slowly became larger.
Ru Murleen looked down at her instruments, switching the craft's firing mode from lasers to torpedoes. "Full count," she replied, seeing the number near the flight stick report that all six of her torpedoes were there.
"Same here, Blue Seven," Rookie One replied in his Tatooinian accent.
"Open fire on that deflection tower," Obi-Wan ordered as he nodded to himself.
A pair of proton torpedoes emerged from each of the two X-wings, immediately followed by a sustained volley of laser fire from Obi-Wan's starfighter. The lasers hit the tower first, sending portions of the inside hurtling outside as a result of decompression. The pairs of torpedoes slammed into the tower near the portion that Obi-Wan had already damaged, the four large explosions giving way to several smaller ones as the tower was destroyed.
"Good shooting," Obi-Wan congratulated his two wingmates as pieces of the tower floated past them.
Darth Vader watched as his two wingmen easily boarded their own ships as he gently lowered himself into the cockpit of his modified TIE fighter. Boarding his ship in his suit was always a chore, but now Vader's attempt was mired by the nagging injury he had received at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi three days previously. It was almost embarrassing to watch him fumble around, but all he felt at the moment was anger towards Obi-Wan Kenobi. After some effort, Vader was finally able to close the hatch of his fighter and begin a quick startup.
"We have picked up a new signal," the voice a crewmember on Yavin 4 said, his voice being relayed to every pilot. "Enemy fighters headed your way."
Obi-Wan checked his sensors for the incoming fighters, but saw only the green spots of his allies on the screen. He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, using it the way a normal pilot would use their sensors. He felt the presence of his wingmates as they followed his every move, sensed the other pilots in the battle group as they flew around in the distance, and then he brushed past the TIE pilots as they headed towards him.
"This is Blue Seven," he addressed the wingmates. "I've found them, they're coming in from my left." He then gave the exact coordinates to the rest of the group.
Ru Murleen strained her neck as she attempted to visually spot the fighters. "Are you su- -?" she began to ask before she was interrupted by her astromech droid. Her sensors were now littered with numerous red dots to her own left. "I copy, my sensors have picked them up,"
The TIE fighters screamed as they approached the attacking ships. Twin bolts of green energy raced towards three X-wings, impacting one on its blue-painted wing. The ship spiraled out of control and slammed into a turbolaser emplacement.
Wedge Antilles pulled the trigger on his flight stick, sending a quad blast towards the bluish-gray target he was pursuing, only for the more maneuverable TIE fighter to break left just before the shots were fired. The young Corellian pilot continued his pursuit, sending the nose of his fighter in the same direction. Another shot went over the TIE as it dived towards the Death Star's surface, almost causing Wedge to lose sight of his target as it blended in with the gray metal. Wedge activated his targeting computer, causing the TIE to show up as a bright violet against an orange-painted background. He followed the Imperial fighter as it flew away from him, slowly getting the bright target into his sights. His next shot impacted on the TIE's right solar panel, sending the craft into a flaming death spiral towards a weakened deflection tower.
Green laser fire threatening to tear his fighter apart broke Wedge's attention away from the exploding tower as the hunter became the hunted. His X-wing rattled as another burst of fire slammed into his shields.
"This is Red Two, I've got one on my tail. I can't shake him," Wedge called out as green lasers flashed out from behind him, forcing his astromech droid to scream out in terror as one shot came extremely close to hitting its mark.
"Two, Six here," Wedge heard Jek Porkins reply to his call for help. "I'm headed your…" the rest of his sentence was cut off by his panicked scream as his X-wing exploded.
Wedge felt his own fighter violently rock as another blast hit his shields, and then he heard the warning sirens as his rear shields gave out. He quickly checked a readout, he had sustained some hull damage, but the extent of it was unknown.
The TIE chasing after Wedge exploded in a bright green flame as two shots tore through its engines, causing Wedge to breathe a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Luke," he said as Luke Skywalker slowed down to reform the wing. Biggs followed him a few seconds later.
Darth Vader pulled his TIE Advanced away from the wreckage of Red Six as he sensed the presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi nearby. He checked his sensor screen, looking for mechanical proof of the location of his nemesis. Using both the Force and the technology in his fighter, he found Obi-Wan's sleek fighter to his left and low. It was flanked by two X-wings as it skimmed the surface of the Death Star. Vader aligned his fighter towards the three enemy ships, and squeezed the triggers on his control yoke.
The stream of fire easily broke through the shields of the ship on Obi-Wan's right, sending the deadly lasers into the hull of the vessel. The X-wing exploded, sending the metallic fragments throughout the area. Obi-Wan heard the scream of Blue Three as his fighter disintegrated around him, and he heard Ru Murleen call out the young pilot's real name as she cut her throttle in an attempt to get behind the three pursuing TIEs. She made a welcome target to the pilot on Vader's left, whose precise shots sent Murleen into a fatal spin towards the Death Star.
Vader watched in satisfaction as his enemy was forced to fly alone, making him the perfect target. "The leader's mine," Vader told his wingmen as he struggled to keep Kenobi in his sights.
"I copy, Lord Vader," one of the black-suited pilots replied. "He's all yours."