Chapter 13: Dogfight Over Nevarro

Ahsoka, Cal, Tor, Mawlekk, and Lung-Seek explained what had occurred during the time they had split up to cover more ground. Tor explained that the only trooper in Ahsoka's group who had survived the assault of the First Order's stormtroopers brought word of it to Tor and the others, who relayed the message to the fleet and had the redesigned gunships brought in to help them escape in the ground assault.

"Now all we have to do is make sure that the First Order stays in the system long enough for us to corner them and catch their Supreme Leader if he tries to escape," said Ahsoka.

"It's going to be more difficult than we think," warned Tor. "Now that we know that their base of operation is on Nevarro, they'll evacuate the system and rebuild elsewhere. And now that we've seen how dangerous they are, if they manage to escape, it's almost certain that they'll declare a full-scale war against the New Republic."

"Which is why we must not fail to get the Supreme Leader in custody," replied Ahsoka.

"They're not giving him up without a fight," Cal Kestis said with a stony expression. "Look."

The other four Jedi looked out the viewports of their modified freighter-turned-gunship and saw that the Legacy was now leading the rest of the reconnaissance fleet in a fearsome battle with the First Order's fleet. At the moment, the Jedi and the New Republic troopers could see the brilliant red and green of laser beams racing through the emptiness of space and flares and flashes of explosions rocked their vessel as it headed toward the fleet. The modified gunships safely reached the New Republic's Star Defenders relatively unharmed, and then Ahsoka and her fellow Jedi hurried to the bridge of the Legacy.

"What's the situation?" Ahsoka questioned Admiral Ackbar, who had been commandeering the fleet during the reconnaissance mission.

"We have twenty Star Destroyers moving into attack position," Ackbar replied. "Several more have made the jump into hyperspace and more are attempting to flee by the minute."

"They're trying to hold us at bay so the rest of their fleet can escape," Ahsoka thought out loud. "I hope Luke and the others are having an easier time on Tatooine than we are here."

Cal Kestis told Admiral Ackbar, "Send a message to each Star Defender and light cruiser in our fleet. Scramble all fighters and prepare to engage those First Order Star Destroyers. We must stop the Supreme Leader from escaping or the Republic will endure more strife.

"Yes, General Kestis," replied Ackbar.

Then he and Ahsoka, Tor Solaris, Mawlekk, and Lung-Seek hurried to the flight deck to board their fighters and lead the New Republic's attempt to end the potential occurrence of another war with the capture of the treacherous Supreme Leader Snoke. All around them, flight crews were fueling and refueling the fighters and installing astromech droids aboard their respective fighters while the pilots, clad in the orange flight suits of the former Rebel Alliance, hurried to their starfighters. Ahsoka chose a Y-wing fighter for herself as this was the one model of a starfighter that she was familiar with. She would have preferred a Delta-7 fighter, but this model was no longer in use. She noticed that Cal Kestis chose a Y-wing as well while the other three chose X-wings.

As Ahsoka boarded her ship, the maintenance crew introduced her to her droid copilot: astromech droid R3-D16, who greeted her with several chirps and twips and beeps which could be recognized as delight even by organic lifeforms.

"All set to go, R3?" asked Ahsoka.

R3-D16 beeped in response, to which the young Togruta replied, "In that case, let's prepare for action."

With that, Ahsoka primed her Y-wing and contacted Cal, Tor, Mawlekk, and Lung-Seek. She said, "All Jedi squad leaders in position?"

"Ready, Ahsoka," replied Cal over the com.

"Stand by," replied Tor Solaris.

"I am ready," said Mawlekk.

"And I," answered Lung-Seek.

"Roger. Awaiting launch takeoff procedure."

The flight crews quickly finished all safety checks on the New Republic starfighters and in a minute or two more, the signal was given. Ahsoka, Cal, Tor, Mawlekk, and Lung-Seek were the first to depart the hangar bay of the Legacy, and they were followed by a huge force of X-wings, Y-wings, A-wings, B-wings, and newer starfighters including Delta-8s, Delta-9s, U-wings, V-wings, and the newest fighters that had been produced for the New Republic Defense Force: the C-wing and H-wing starfighter, both of which had been developed on Cato Neimoidia.

As the New Republic fighters moved out to engage the First Order, they were met with thousands of TIE fighters, most of which had the same model as those used by the Empire but were built with dark metal on the hull for stealth as well as open combat. In an instant, the First Order's TIE fighters moved in to attack. The New Republic vessels returned the favor while the lead fighters divided their squads for surprise attacks on the unexpecting, and the darkness of space was alight with thousands of dogfights that could be seen in the sky from Nevarro.

Ahsoka led a squad of X-wings and A-wings into the thick of the battle and fired her Y-wing's cannons with supreme accuracy. Three of the First Order's TIE fighters moved to dodge the attack and were hit and were blasted into flaming plastoid and fragments of metal. The fourth pilot in Ahsoka's way attempted to fire on her ship, but at once was overpowered. Red laser bolts sheared through the TIE fighter's unshielded hull, and in seconds the ship and its pilot vanished in a fiery oblivion.

"Accelerate to attack speed! Get those fighters to break formation!" Ahsoka ordered.

"Copy, Gold Leader," answered an A-wing pilot, Drix Startorch. He and the other pilots surged ahead and fired at the TIE fighters from only mere yards away. The TIE pilots on the front lines were instantly blown apart, but those behind opened fire and the X-wings and A-wings scattered as well.

Ahsoka went after another TIE fighter, which served constantly to avoid being hit. However, Ahsoka opened fire and managed to pierce the right solar wing. The TIE fighter's electrical system went haywire and it careened through space until it hit one of the New Republic's Mon Cal cruisers and exploded.

Another band of First-Order TIE Fighters were engaged in a dogfight with a squad of X-wings, led by Wedge Antilles. The X-wings were putting the enemy to route, but they were suddenly attacked from the rear by a squad of TIE Interceptors, which began chasing Wedge's squad. Thinking quickly, Wedge ordered his two wingmen to attack in a criss-cross formation to cut off the rear attack. Then he led the five lead TIE fighters in a deadly chase of cat-and-mouse between the laser fire of a retreating Star Destroyer and a New Republic Star Defender: the Egalitarian.

"Holding steady," said Wedge through his comlink. "I'm about to head for the main hangar and then resume my position."

With that, the bold pilot throttled his thrust lever and sent his X-wing into a dive straight for the hangar of the Egalitarian. The TIE Interceptors chased with a vengeance and fired rapidly at him, but Wedge only avoided the shots while not changing his course. Back and forth they raced toward the New Republic vessel like mynocks chasing a wounded purgill. Only seconds before he was in range of the hangar, Wedge looped around his pursuers and then flew under the Egalitarian's metallic belly to rejoin Cal Kestis and Ahsoka in the thick of the battle. The TIE fighters tried the same maneuver and two were lost to the New Republic Star Defender while the other three were caught in B-wing and C-wing crossfire.

…

Supreme Leader Snoke was aboard his Super-class Star Destroyer, the Supremacy, and was observing the awesome conflict from his bridge chair with Koloth Ren by his side. He could see that the Star Destroyers positioned to allow his escape were holding well against those of the New Republic, but a handful had received mild damage, though two Star Destroyers were starting to lose power as one could see their tremendous booster engines flickering like dying stars.

"The Republic dogs have our contingency fleet held at bay, Master," said Koloth Ren with a scowl. "With your permission, I will lead a squad of fighters and destroy them myself."

Snoke looked up at his right-hand agent and replied, "You are the most devoted servant I know of, Koloth, but I will not risk losing you so soon in this conflict. You are needed if we are to overthrow the New Republic and take back the prize of rulership robbed from our slain Emperor."

"That prize will be worth nothing if the Republic has you as a prisoner, my Master," replied Ren.

Snoke knew that Koloth Ren was correct. He could not allow the New Republic to bring him to Coruscant as a prisoner, though it would allow Ren to lead the First Order's war for galactic domination to even greater victories than he himself might otherwise attain. Nevertheless, the First Order needed his experience if they were to win the struggle in the Outer Rim, and so he nodded to Koloth and said, "Then lead your squadron to destroy them, and may the Force be with you, my young apprentice."

…

Ahsoka, Cal, and Tor were leading battalions of fighters in another run to get to the Super Star Destroyer when a transmission came in from the Legacy. It was Admiral Ackbar, and he had good news.

"Squad leaders, we have a fleet of Republic fighters leading more Star Defenders out of hyperspace. We have reinforcements coming into the system," Ackbar's throaty voice declared over the comlink.

It was true, for the New Republic fleet commandeered by Lando was now exiting lightspeed and the Star Defenders were taking positions to fire on the attacking Star Destroyers. At the head of the fleet, the Star Defender Liberation was sending fighters out to aid Ahsoka and the reconnaissance fleet. But as the heroes of the New Republic were moving in to aid in catching the Supreme Leader, a disturbing message came in over the comlink.

"Squad leaders, stay alert! Enemy fighters coming your way! They're launching from that Super Star Destroyer!" came Lando's urgent voice.

"Pick up your visual scanning! Here they come!" shouted Wedge through his comlink.

The New Republic fighters all scrambled to divert any opponents as a new swarm of TIE fighters tore through the darkness of space like hornets gone mad with rage. Ahsoka led Cal and Tor to engage the attackers and once more, the three friends blasted through the First Order's ranks with supreme efficiency. But what they couldn't see was that the lead TIE fighter was no Interceptor.

…

Koloth Ren, the high commander of the First Order's military, sat in the globose cockpit of his TIE Decimator. Unlike the Interceptor-class TIE fighters, Ren's vessel was designed for long-range combat as it was equipped with proton torpedoes and cluster missiles as well as custom-fitted turbolaser cannons. It was also equipped with four ion engines designed to propel the fighter at high speeds and cloaking devices to avoid detection.

Ren contacted his TIE fighter escorts and said, "I'll take them myself. Each of you, cover me."

"Yes, sir," the pilots answered.

Then he flew his TIE Demicator after a squad of X-wings and crept up from behind. Then he waited for the first fighter to fall into range of his weapons. As the first X-wing came into his sights, Ren opened fire, and the deadly green plasma bolts hit near the starboard stabilizers and destroyed the ship in a cloud of white-hot plasma. Two more X-wings fell to Koloth Ren, and when the remaining two attempted to attack, the TIE fighter escorts diverted their attention to allow Ren to go after them. Koloth Ren chased after the next X-wing with malicious glee written on his face, and as the fighter fell into range, he blasted at it and hit between the engines, then watched with relish as the fighter and its pilot disappeared in flaming metallic confetti. Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in the Force and knew that a Jedi was near.

"I will go after the Jedi alone," Ren said through his comlink. The rest of you, do not let the Republic scum reach the Supreme Leader."

"Yes, sir," replied one of the TIE pilots.

With that, Koloth Ren broke off from his squad and went through the thick of the battle to where Ahsoka and her fellow Jedi were leading the assault to catch the Supreme Leader Snoke, and he closed in on Cal's squad. Inside her fighter, Ahsoka felt the aura of the dark side growing around them and she said to the others, "Keep a sharp eye on the TIE fighter behind you, Cal. The Force is strong with its pilot."

"I know," replied Cal with a voice stern as steel. "It's Koloth Ren."

Cal ordered the squad to break off as he wound his way through a field of laser fire to lure Koloth away from Ahsoka and the rest of the Jedi leading the attack. His plan worked, but Cal was admittedly saddened to know that his pursuer was not hesitant to fire at any New Republic fighter that would potentially get in his way. Then Cal made a shocking discovery as he glanced at his fighter's scanner monitor: Koloth Ren was gaining on him, only two hundred feet and closing.

He told the astromech droid, "R4, try to increase the engine power and set rear deflectors on full."

The droid, R4-J6, rerouted channeled the Y-wing's main power to the engines while increasing the deflector shields to maximum power. Cal then began weaving up and over the Star Defenders and then tried a daring tactic of hitting the cannons on the underbellies of several Star Destroyers, hoping that the debris would slow Koloth Ren down.

Elsewhere in the midst of the space combat, Ahsoka had been watching Cal's movements on her X-wing's monitor as she was hoping that he would be able to evade Koloth Ren long enough to regroup with the others. However, when she saw when one of the fighter icons on the scanner flicker and then vanish, she felt a shockwave rippling through the Force. Ahsoka saw the fiery cloud of plasma particles and then realized the heart-wrenching truth. Cal Kestis was gone.

Ahsoka felt her eyes sting as she looked away. She wanted to return to the Legacy and simply remove herself from the battle, but she knew that it would be a slight to the code of the Jedi Order. So she told herself, "There will be time to mourn later. For now, I will continue to lead the squad to catch the Supreme Leader of the First Order and ensure that Cal's sacrifice was not in vain."

A/N: I hope this chapter was exciting for you all, and I'm quite sorry that I had Cal Kestis end up dying here, but the sad truth is that even a Jedi can't cheat death. Next chapter, we return to Tatooine to see how Luke and his main-character buddy squad is handling the First Order's incursion into the Outer Rim.