Chapter VI

The R-22 Spearhead skimmed the surface of the Death Star, desperately trying to get the determined Darth Vader off of it's tail. It juked left and right, each time managing to stay away from the green laser shots that would spell certain doom for whatever they hit. The TIE Advanced maneuvered with the fast craft, matching it move for move as Darth Vader continued to fire off his lasers whenever the chance came about.

"Oh, I hate flying," Obi-Wan groaned as he watched Vader's shots streak past his fighter. He pulled back on his flight stick, causing the nose of his craft to face the planet Yavin, the red gas giant appeared slightly slimmer than it did a few minutes ago, a sign that the Death Star was nearing the Rebel moon. The chronometer on his instrument panel counted down to the four-minute mark. Through the Force, he could feel Vader begin to climb along with him.

It almost seemed like old times, Obi-Wan and Anakin matching each other nearly move-for-move during the hellish Battle of Coruscant, but now the scene was a cruel mockery of what had happened. The only time Obi-Wan and Anakin would be flying as allies at that moment would be on archive footage taken during the many battles of the Clone Wars. In his mind, Obi-Wan knew that there was never going to be a way that he could ever outfly Anakin, but there was a chance that he could outfly Vader…

Obi-Wan leveled his craft, waiting until the time was right for his next stunt. Vader followed, continuing to try and shoot down his old enemy, fire-linked shots racing towards their target only to continually miss. Obi-Wan rolled his craft over onto it's back and then pulled back on the flight stick. The surface of the Death Star raced up to meet him, and Obi-Wan silently hoped that he had obtained enough "altitude" and it would prohibit him from crashing into the surface. He managed to pull out of the dive a few meters above the surface, having done a complete half-loop. He sensed Vader's presence, and was slightly overjoyed to find that Vader's tight pursuit had been cut short, he was now about twelve meters back from where he had been before Obi-Wan had looped around.

Yet the pursuing TIE Advanced still continued firing at his ship, one lucky shot finally impacting on Obi-Wan's shields.

"That technician was right," Obi-Wan said aloud as he watched his shields nearly fail after the first shot. "Minimal shields…" Obi-Wan saw the remains of a deflection tower in the distance, and turned his fighter onto it's right side, causing another one of Vader's shots to go wide of the now thin target. Vader, sensing what Obi-Wan was about to do, did the same, and when Obi-Wan performed a tight loop around the remnants of the tower, Vader followed him.

Luke Skywalker watched as a strange looking TIE Fighter chased Ben's R-22 Spearhead, seemingly ignoring any other pilots. Through his limited training in the Force, he could feel the anger rolling off of the TIE pilot, and the mere presence of him caused Luke to shiver in his cockpit. "Wedge, Ben's picked up one." He watched as the TIE pilot quickly maneuvered around, trying to pick off his prey, and Luke knew that if things continued the way they were, Ben's ship was going to be destroyed. "Can you help him?" Luke asked.

"I'm going to try," Wedge replied as he saw the chase unfold. "Biggs, Luke, cover for me. Arthree, designate the TIE chasing the R-22 as our primary target." Wedge heard the acknowledging beeps and whistles from his astromech droid as it followed its orders. Wedge pushed a button on his instrument panel, causing his targeting computer to activate. Wedge now saw Vader's TIE fighter in bright yellow as he looked through the computer's screen, and saw Vader's wingmen as the familiar violet he had used to shoot down a previous TIE. He switched to his proton torpedoes and attempted to achieve a missile lock on the elusive fighter.

"This guy's good," Wedge had to compliment Vader as the more experienced pilot kept eluding the missile lock while still managing to pursue Kenobi. He watched as the two wingmen calmly stayed at their leader's side, never once attempting to either attack Kenobi or pull back to attack him. Wedge had to wonder whether or not the TIE pilot knew something he didn't.

A single drone alerted Wedge that missile lock had finally been achieved upon the elusive fighter. "Got you now," Wedge smiled as he pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. An alarm began sounding in Wedge's cockpit, causing the pilot to turn off his targeting computer.

TORPEDO LAUNCHERS HAVE SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE, FIRING DISABLED UNDER SAFETY PROTOCOLS, Wedge's astromech droid reported to the frustrated pilot. "Well, override them!" Wedge exclaimed.

DAMAGE REPORTS SAY THAT A PREVIOUS HIT HAS MADE THE FIRING OF ANY PROTON TORPEDOES A SERIOUS RISK ON THE SHIP. ANY ATTEMPT HAS A 90 CHANCE OF MISFIRING.

"Red Leader, this is Red Three," Wedge reported. "My proton torpedo launcher has been rendered inoperable. I'm unable to complete the mission."

"Red Five, take command of the flight," Red Leader instructed, hoping that Luke Skywalker was half as good a pilot as his father was.

"Lord Vader," one of the technicians inside of the Death Star reported. "Several fighters have broken off from the main group. They're attempting to compromise the main reactor."

Darth Vader's anger at Kenobi slightly died down upon hearing this news. Even though that fool Tarkin never believed it, those fighters did pose a significant threat to the security of the Death Star, and only he was a good enough pilot to stop them. He broke off his pursuit of Obi-Wan and ordered his two wingmen to do the same.

Gold Leader stared into his targeting computer, watching as the distance between his Y-wing and the thermal exhaust port shortened as he flew through the trench. The turbolasers stationed at his target kept firing towards the three intruders, forcing the Y-wings to have to weave close to the walls and the surface of the trench in order to avoid being shot down.

Then silence broke through the cockpit as the turbolasers stopped their barrage, causing all three fighters to check both their sensor screens and check the area for the incoming fighters that had just entered the trench.

"Switch your deflectors back to normal," Gold Leader ordered as he continued looking into the targeting computer. He heard his wingmen respond to his orders, and counted down the seconds until he would be within firing range. This wing and Keyan Farlander were the last of Gold Squadron, the majority of their forces lost in combat with the TIE fighters.

Darth Vader and his wingmen quickly closed on the slow Y-wings, their targeting systems working to get a solid shot on the fighters as the two in the rear attempted to cover for the leader. The wingman on Vader's left open fired upon one of the covering fighters, the high-powered shields and hull of the Y-wing withstanding several shots before it was finally destroyed.

Darth Vader watched as the leader of the group began to panic under the pressure, wildly attempting to leave the trench. Vader's shots sliced through the shields of the Y-wing with only a little trouble, and then severed the right wing from the rest of the ship, sending it crashing into the nearest wall. Now there was only the one Y-wing in the trench left to deal with. The three TIE fighters opened fire on the ship, which smartly began pull out of the trench. Unfortunately, it flew into the waiting sights of the several laser cannons stationed near the trench, which welcomed him with open arms. The Y-wing exploded after its pilot managed to make a last second plea. Satisfied that the exhaust port was now safe for the time being, Darth Vader resumed his search for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"—from behind!" the dying words of Gold Five echoed throughout the large cockpit. The pilot struggled to steer the modified freighter away from the TIEs that threatened to blast the ship apart, as she did a lock of brown hair fell free from her goggles. Green Squadron had also taken heavy casualties as a separate group of TIEs had gone past the main battlegroup and headed straight towards the few escaping transports. The Moldy Crow shuddered violently and a loud rumble echoed throughout the ship as an enemy volley hit its mark.

"We've lost our aft shields," she reported, a twinge of desperation in her voice.

"How many TIEs remain?" Kyle Katarn asked with anger in his voice. During the entire battle, he had found out that releasing his anger of what the Empire had done upon the fighters was extremely effective. His aim seemed to improve, leading to the destruction of several enemy fighters that would have probably eluded him otherwise.

"Five," Jan Ors replied. "But we only have three…make that two X-wings left," she added as a TIE fighter added another kill to its increasing tally.

Kyle watched as another TIE fighter flew into his sights, and smiled as it exploded after he connected with a single red shot. Another one quickly fell victim to the same fate its predecessor did as it wandered into his sights while chasing an X-wing. One of the three remaining TIEs made an attack run on the Moldy Crow, its two lasers impacting on the unprotected hull. Jan watched as the fighter passed overhead, and then watched as it exploded as a result of a large laser cannon.

"Nice shooting, Kyle," she congratulated.

"That wasn't me," he replied.

Red Leader closed in on the thermal exhaust port, pursued by the strange looking TIE fighter and his two wingmen. The enemy had shot down his own wingmen a few seconds previously, and less than two minutes remained before the Death Star was in firing range of the Rebel base. The survival of the Rebellion probably rested upon his shoulders. His ship rocked as the enemy leader's shots hit his shields, but the closing walls of the targeting computer were all that he paid attention to. Finally, the quick beeping from the targeting computer alerted him that a target lock on the exhaust port had been firmly established.

He fired off the proton torpedoes, and watched as they soared towards the end of the trench. He quickly pulled up, not wanting to be near the massive explosion that was sure to follow. The torpedoes raced towards the target, guided by some of the latest in computer technology. They reached the target in only a few seconds, and only impacted upon the surface of the exhaust port…

A look of failure appeared on Red Leader's face as he had to report what happened to the main base and his pilots. "Negative, I repeat, negative. They didn't go in, just impacted on the surface. Red Five, take Two and Three and make your attack run. Gold and Blue Seven, make sure to clear them an exit."

He dismissed Luke's attempt at persuading him to try and flee, but he had to at least try to draw that advanced TIE fighter away from the group as long as possible. A well placed shot by the leader took out his starboard engine, and soon Red Leader found himself crashing towards the surface of the Death Star.

Luke Skywalker was nervous, it was his first actual combat flight and the fate of the entire battle rested on his shoulders. He was tempted to give up, call out to Ben for help and hope that the Jedi would be able to destroy the station himself. But it was truly up to him, and Luke knew this.

"Okay, Biggs, Wedge, when we go in this thing we're going in full throttle. That ought to keep those fighters off of our backs."

The three X-wings entered the trench of the Death Star with only a minute remaining, Biggs and Wedge both on the lookout for the three fighters that had caused so much destruction that day. Luke pulled up his targeting computer, and hoped that he would have more luck with his shot than Red Leader did.

"Red Five," Keyan Farlander reported from above the Death Star surface. "The fighters are coming back in, watch your back. They did a pretty good job of evading me," he added, remembering the lead fighter somehow making his two proton torpedoes collide into each other several meters before they hit his ship.

"I copy, Gold Seven," Luke replied. "Biggs, Wedge, you hear that?"

"I'm not picking them up at the moment," Biggs reported.

Darth Vader was exhausted. The strain of causing the Y-wing pilot's proton torpedoes to collide with each other using the Force had taken a lot out of him, and the constant flying had slightly aggravated his wound. He lined up one of the X-wings in his sights and fired. The shot grazed off of the right engine of the craft, causing a small explosion.

More alarms sounded in Wedge's cockpit as Vader's shot hit his craft. His attempts to steer his craft away from the wall became increasingly difficult, as the ship seemed slightly unresponsive. The computer readout provided by his astromech droid confirmed his suspicion that his stabilizer had been severely damaged. "Luke, I've lost my stabilizer," he regretfully informed Skywalker.

"Get out of here, Wedge. You can't do any more good back there," Luke replied, knowing that Wedge attempting to draw enemy fire away from him with poor maneuverability would only do more harm than good.

"Sorry," Wedge said as he pulled his starfighter out of the trench, leaving only Biggs Darklighter to protect Luke.

Vader ordered his wingmen to stay on the leader, as he prepared for another shot. He may not have been able to destroy Kenobi at the moment, but there would be plenty of time after Yavin 4 was destroyed. He recalled the events that happened on Yavin 4 twenty-two years previously, the duel with Asajj Ventress that had been one of the first steps he had taken in completely embracing his anger. He squeezed the trigger on his control yoke, causing the other X-wing guarding the leader to explode into a ball of flames.

Luke heard Biggs' death scream through his intercom, and knew that he was now alone against the three TIE fighters. There wasn't much time left for Yavin 4, and now Luke Skywalker was forced to take on the heavy burden of destroying the station. His targeting computer showed the distance between himself and the exhaust port closing.

"Use the Force, Luke," Ben's voice emerged from his intercom. "The targeting computer won't make the shot. Remember your exercises, let go, Luke."

Luke, trusting the advice of his mentor, switched off his targeting computer, causing great worry in the Rebel war room. Many of the personnel in the background silently resolved themselves for death, while Princess Leia hoped that the young pilot knew what he was doing. After all, it was General Kenobi who had instructed him to do so.

"The Force is strong with this one," Vader remarked as he attempted to get the remaining X-wing in his sights. The young pilot was up to something, and Vader knew exactly what it was. He had used the Force in aerial and space combat to make hitting his targets easier, and that was exactly what this pilot was going to do. "But not strong enough," Vader added as he began to fire at Red Five.

A blast of turbolaser fire disintegrated one of his wingmen, throwing Vader off of his target. In a last minute attempt at self-preservation, the other wingman attempted to pull away from the trench, causing one of his solar panels to impact with one of Vader's. Darth Vader found himself spinning out of control, his viewport alternating between the darkness of space and the grayish metal of the Death Star as it moved away from him. He also caught sight of the new participant in the battle, the very same YT-1300 that had escaped from the Death Star with Obi-Wan Kenobi onboard.

Luke barely heard Han Solo's return as he resumed focusing on the target ahead of him. Then he knew it was time to fire, and his hands moved against his own will, fingers flexing on the flight stick and squeezing the trigger. The proton torpedoes flew out of the X-wing, and headed straight into the exhaust port, causing Luke to breathe a huge sigh of relief as the chronometer in his X-wing reached zero. He heard Han congratulate his shot and Chewbacca's joyful roaring.

The two X-wings, one Y-wing, one R-22, and a battered Corellian freighter accelerated away from the Death Star, barely reaching a safe distance before the chain reaction finally destroyed the superweapon. They were soon joined by the single X-wing of Green Squadron that had survived and the very battered Moldy Crow. As the seven ships entered the atmosphere of the fourth moon, the celebrations had already begun.

Darth Vader finally regained control of his ship, whose tumble had been amplified by the destruction of the Death Star. He set course for the nearest Imperial base, swearing his revenge upon the Rebellion, and the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star.