[Frigate Watcher's main bay]
Joker felt comforted when they reached the Frigate's hangar. She had kept a hand permanently over the hyperspace motivator's controls for the last five minutes, while hearing the conversation between the two ships. Only now she realized that she had not programmed any jump co-ordinates. Nobody could even imagine what would have happened if she had activated those controls.
"Please, Cybercat, could you transmit your jump co-ordinates to my computer?"
"Of course, Joker." Her squad-mate answered. "Good that you didn't need them before!"
"Don't make me more nervous than what I already am!"
She landed softly and opened the rear hatch.
"All of you descend now, please! We are going to return for the rest of the group!"
She observed how the scared colonists, a good part of them children, abandoned the transport. The young man's father stopped for a moment and grabbed Joker's shoulder.
"You are going to save my son and the others, aren't you?" The man asked with concern.
She remembered his mother had called him Alvar.
"Don't worry, sir. We'll be back with Alvar and the rest of people as soon as we can."
The man nodded and turned away without reply. Joker couldn't do
anything else for him but take-off and do what she had promised. She thought of the young
colonist who had remained on the planetoid with the other half of the colony. She hoped
that he would be able to convince those more obstinate among them.
[TIE Interceptors' group]
Foxfire saw the three ships taking off again from the Frigate. Iceman and Shadow had joined them and they were about to repeat the operation. She was wondering how it was possible that the Imperials were believing so easily what Sergeant Rammes had told them. He was carrying out an awesome performance, but even so it was almost incredible. She had been expecting to be fighting a long time ago. Sherry had been very strange after her awakening. She had not made any comments about it, but Foxfire had detected something new in her friend, she almost seemed to believe that this crazy plan was going to work. The amazing thing was that it was doing so. Until now...
"Banshee Three and Four, provide escort for Ballard Two and the shuttles." Vyper ordered.
"Aye, sir." Iceman and Shadow were already heading towards them. Foxfire looked around one more time to see the impressive amount of ships surrounding them. She couldn't avoid the old reflex to check the shields indicators, just to find she had no shields at all.
How I miss my A-Wing!
[Imperial Class Star Destroyer Senderis. Delta Squadron ready room]
Lieutenant Hagger, Delta One, had discovered that he was not tired enough to sleep, so he had returned to the ready room to have some chat with his partners, but he had found it empty. It seemed that the pilots who weren't flying were resting in their rooms. He served himself a new mug of coffee.
"This stuff will kill me sooner or later." He said to himself staring at the steaming black substance. "Not to mention it's probably the reason for me being awake when everybody else is sleeping..."
He approached a computer terminal. Maybe he could waste some time with some of the new games. He took a small sip of the coffee and made a gesture of displeasure.
"Oh, boy, today's even worse than other days! I wonder if that transport's pilot was serious about the Corellian coffee..."
That pilot seemed to be a nice guy. He noticed that he had forgotten to ask him his name, but that was nothing that couldn't be solved with the computer's help. He logged in on the general information services and introduced a query searching for a transport called Ballard Two. Immediately the data filled the screen. Delta Class Dx9 Stormtrooper Transport, weight, size, average speed, maximum speed, cargo capability, warheads capability... Hagger didn't want the technical information. He selected the duty assignments data. Transport Wing Ballard, main base in Space Platform ISP-51H. Units from One to Six currently temporarily assigned to Sienar facilities on planetoid KS-31. Three of them had been destroyed recently during a Rebel attack. Hagger remembered that all too well. He required specific information about Ballard Two, last flights and pilots. Here it was. The last stored mission was a flight from planetoid KS-31 to Space Platform Sienar-201. The pilot for that mission was Sergeant Iskaias Sehard. That was what he was looking for. Iskaias, curious name. He closed the file and took the link to the pilots data base. The information included the standard hologram of the pilot's head. Sergeant Sehard was a male thirty years old, black haired, with moustache and nothing remarkable. Hagger had not imagined the guy like that, but that always happened when you knew somebody only by his voice. He had become more curious and started to read the file. The brief biographical data contained nothing interesting, place of birth, parents, and things like that. He was about to close this file too, a bit disappointed, when he discovered a further note. This was very recent, only one hour and a half ago. Sergeant Sehard was expected onboard the Medical Frigate Mountrill for a routine check, but he had not reported in. That was strange. If he was going to Mountrill why had he been ordered on a mission? Maybe they were short of pilots after the Rebel attack, and Sergeant Sehard or his higher ranked official had forgotten to cancel the medical checks. Hagger didn't have anything better to do, so he decided to take a look at the casualties list in Ballard Wing.
He thought that this might be restricted information but it was not. Only one pilot had died during the attack. Only one. But there were three ships destroyed. He requested more information and discovered that two transports had been destroyed parked in the facilities. That meant that they should have more pilots than they needed. Hagger's instinct was telling him that there was something strange here.
He took another sip of the coffee, but this time he didn't notice
the taste. He tried a different approach and tried to find something about the Space
Platform Sienar-201. Reserved Information. He didn't have the clearance codes, so he
should start again using a slower path. He made a general query on the Imperial Database
searching for Ballard Two, this time looking not only at the subjects but at the contents.
The computer informed that this might take some minutes. Hagger had hours if needed.
[Planetoid KS-31's surface]
"I'm not sure this is a good idea." The old man was saying. He was the one who had questioned the first decision of abandoning the village. "To leave our houses for a few hours was one thing, to leave the planet is a very different matter altogether. Where are we going to go?"
He was not the only one with that kind of doubts. Alvar Parix was trying to convince them that there was a real danger, that the Rebel pilot was talking the truth and that they would be killed if they insisted on remaining on the planetoid. The sound from the engines of the three ships interrupted him when he was about to start again with his plea.
"What are they waiting for?" Angelrose asked. The colonists were not heading toward the ships.
"I'll go see." Joker said. She checked her chronometer. Only twenty one minutes. They would need five to abandon the atmosphere and ten more to be far enough at top speed to avoid the explosion and the expansive wave that would follow. It would be twenty to reach the Frigate or a position from where to jump to hyperspace, but that would be only if they were not caught in the planetoid's destruction. If they did not leave in six minutes they would never make it.
[Imperial Class Star Destroyer Senderis. Delta Squadron Ready
Room]
The results of the search started to fill the screen. Hagger scrolled
page after page looking for something relevant. He ordered the data in chronological
order, from the most recent backwards. There was one very recent. Corvette Denner
had been expecting transport Ballard Two for docking for five hours, with a cargo of
recovered pieces from the facilities. It seemed that the transport's destination had been
changed at the last moment, but Denner had not been informed. He checked the last
accesses to Ballard Wing duty assignments. They were all signed by Lieutenant Fender, the
chief of the Ballard group assigned to the Sienar facilities. Hagger selected all the
fields available for every record, and he found that even the username who had introduced
every piece of information appeared. All these records had been stored by l352fender, who
was certainly Lieutenant Fender. All but one, stored by au212admin. Hagger was not an
expert, but that sounded like a system management user, not related with the Wing or with
a particular person. That was not an entirely convincing proof, but Hagger was sure by now
that the data had been manipulated. That made sense. If Sehard had docked with Denner
five hours ago, he could have made it on time to his medical check up on Mountrill
one and a half hours ago. If Sehard was really who was piloting Ballard Two he was not
acting under his higher official's orders. And he or someone else had done the job of
manipulating the computer records to cover his tracks.
He opened a communication link with the bridge.
"This is Lieutenant Hagger. I need to talk with the Captain."
[Frigate Watcher's main bay]
Something was happening on that ship. Shok'wave couldn't know what it was exactly, but she could detect how the tension was growing over there. The Imperials might have discovered something and all the plan could be about to blow up in their faces. The transports were expected to be leaving the planetoid's atmosphere in a few minutes. They needed only a bit more time.
The colonists on the planetoid, the thought came. It was Joan. Your pilots are having problems with them.
They couldn't communicate with Joker's group without alerting the Imperials. She needed to know what was happening there. She stretched her senses towards the planetoid looking for a familiar mind. The distance was greater, but the task was easier. When she found Joker's mind she felt her tension. The minds around her were nervous too, as she could feel them now. Some of them didn't want to do something... It must be to go with Joker and her partners. She tried to press them to relax and accept whatever it was, but she found a great resistance. This was turning out to be very hard. Shok'wave had never tried to use her abilities in this manner. Actually she wouldn't have believed it possible if she had not seen Joan d'Arc doing it. Shok'wave had been there somehow, she had indeed felt how Joan had done it. She tried to use her powers in the same way. But it seemed easier when the Jedi Lady did it.
You can't force all of them to act against their will. You can only reinforce something that is already there.
Shok'wave tried to do what Joan was suggesting, but she was unable to find anything she could use. She needed to concentrate on more urgent things. The transports had to leave immediately. She returned her attention to Joker's mind and felt her tension. That was not strange. Her pilots should take off in two minutes to have any possibility of escaping.
Get out of there, Joker, now! Shok'wave thought intensely.
The sudden thought startled the pilot. She consulted her chronometer again to find what little time they had left. They had lost more than four minutes discussing without any results. Alvar was with her, trying to convince the rest of the colonists to board the transports.
"Enough of this, Alvar." Joker said. "We have no time. Me must go right now."
She took the transmitter.
"Cybercat, Angelrose, we're leaving, with colonists or without them!"
She had said that loud enough to be heard by everybody. She ran towards the transport without looking back. Alvar and some of the colonists, especially those whose sons or wives had left on the first trip, followed her.
Shok'wave felt the confusion. The fear. That was what she was looking for. She struggled to push all those minds to feel that fear even more intensely. Fear was the only thing that could force them to move.
If you don't go you will die!
The old man and twenty more people had stood seeing how the rest of people ran to board the ships. Suddenly all of them felt the cry of incoming threat in their minds. They could die if they insisted in remaining there. They would die.
"Joker, wait!" It was Cybercat's voice. She looked at the forward visor and saw the remaining colonists running towards her. Less than a minute. They had decided just in time.
"They are all in!" Alvar informed half a minute later.
"Ok, let's go!!!"
The transport and the two shuttles headed to the skies, their engines forced at maximum power. All the colonists had boarded the ships. Angelrose looked at bow to see the two giant Star Destroyers manoeuvring to target the planetoid with all their weapons. The three escaping ships were exactly in the middle and there was no time for a roundabout. In less than fifteen minutes that zone would be a hell.
[TIE Interceptor's group]
Iceman was the first to detect them. He had been constantly watching the chronometer, and couldn't avoid a sigh when he noticed the three red dots appearing on his forward display.
"Interception course, Banshee Four." He ordered. Shadow's Interceptor mirrored his own manoeuvre and they both flew towards the approaching ships. Iceman checked the Star Destroyers position and he saw that they were ready to shoot. Iceman would be happy when they were able to get out of there.
He heard a softened cough through his headphones. That should be Shadow. He checked his rear display again and noticed four ships approaching. TIE Interceptors.
Four. He thought. They can't be Vyper and Foxfire...
Shadow identified the incoming ships. They were from Delta Squadron. She looked at her threat indicator but it was not blinking. Her fingers flew over the computer controls trying to find which was their target. She knew the answer before the screen showed it. Two of them were pointing their weapons against the transport, the one with the more powerful shields, while the other two were each going to attack the shuttles.
[Frigate Watcher's main bay]
Shok'wave returned her attention to the Star Destroyers' bridges, looking for their Captains' minds one more time. She knew immediately that things were getting worse. The intercom crackled and her fears were confirmed.
"Commander, this is Rammes, they are sending fighters against our ships. Our communication console is blinking like crazy, and I imagine they are going to be less friendly with us now..."
It's time, Sherry.
"I know." She said.
"Ma'am?"
"You know the plan. All fighters, launch now!"
[Imperial Class Star Destroyer Senderis's bridge]
Lieutenant Hagger had informed of his discoveries directly to Commander Perdiggo. He had consulted the situation with Skies Cleaner's Captain and he had decided that they should intercept the transport Ballard Two and the two shuttles. The suspicions over them were too serious to ignore. If they resisted to be boarded and inspected they would be destroyed immediately. If Ballard Two's pilot had being lying then Watcher could be hiding something too, as Perdiggo had suspected since the first moment. He couldn't understand how his fear of Vader had pushed him to accept so easily her Captain's words, but now he seemed to be thinking more clearly. He had ordered to contact Watcher.
"They are not answering, sir." The officer said.
"Then we are going to..." Commander Perdiggo was interrupted when Watcher's Captain's shout was heard on the bridge.
"To all ships, this is Watcher, we are detecting Rebel fighters! There are several B-Wings!"
Captain Perdiggo swallowed hard. Everybody knew by then what the B-Wings were able to do if they were not intercepted in time.
"All fighters, engage the incoming Rebels!" He ordered. "Shoot down the B-Wings first!"
[Space around Frigate Watcher]
Vyper and Foxfire had received the coded signal. Their squad-mates were being launched. That meant that they were about to be discovered and they were going to try to move the Imperials' attention away from the transports and the Frigate.
"Banshee Squadron, attack the Rebels right now!" Vyper
ordered. He knew that Iceman and Shadow would have to abandon the transport and the
shuttles and obey the order to avoid being discovered too soon. Foxfire and he were the
closest fighters to the Rebels, so they would be the first ones to intercept them. The
plan for this contingency was to buy some time simulating they were trying to destroy the
Rebel fighters, but actually covering their tails a few seconds, before the incoming
Imperial fighters decided to act themselves.
Shok'wave felt somewhat strange piloting the B-Wing, but she soon discovered the reason. She had got used to the MF-21 Singer. The B-Wing was slower and not so manoeuvreable, but it was heavily armed and had the strongest shields any other starfighter had ever had. That was an advantage that Joan had not had. The Jedi Lady was there, somewhere. Shok'wave could sense her presence very, very close.
May the Force be with you.
Thanks, Joan. Here we go...
She had been watching the Imperial Fleet for more than an hour deciding which ships they would eventually attack. They should choose those far enough from the Frigate to avoid putting it in danger, but close enough to be in range the sooner the better. She had ignored two Escort Carriers that were very near and had preselected two separate Nebulon B Frigates in the computer's memory. She had transmitted the data to the rest of the B-Wings.
"Granite and Moose, take out target One, Zeppelin and I will engage target Two! Psycho, you know what to do"
Acknowledgements were received from the four pilots.
[Imperial Class Star Destroyer Senderis' hangars]
"Delta One requesting immediate launch." Lieutenant Hagger said.
He had run towards the hangar right after talking to Commander Perdiggo. He had contacted his patrol partners too and the four Interceptors were now ready to be launched.
"Roger, Delta One." The answer came. "Launch in fifteen seconds. You are going to intercept transport Ballard Two. The fighters that had been sent to do it have been ordered to return and engage the Rebels."
"Copy that."
He had heard the warning messages of Rebel fighters approaching. He had expected to be ordered to attack them, but things were moving in a different way. He had been the one who had intercepted Ballard Two twice. This time was going to be somewhat different. If they refused to stop their engines he would be more than pleased to press the trigger. There was nothing Hagger hated more than to be deceived. His thoughts were interrupted when the catapult launched his fighter screaming into space. He felt smashed against his seat for a second and then the uncomfortable sensation ceased. He moved the stick to turn towards the planetoid.
[Space surrounding planetoid KS-31]
"They are leaving. All of them!" Joker said. She had seen the signals of Iceman and Shadow's fighters approaching and then four Interceptors more. She had bitten her lower lip knowing what that meant, but now the six ships were moving away from them. That could only mean one thing. Her comrades were attacking the Imperials to distract them.
"Hey, girls, it seems that we are not going to be able to reach the Frigate. Be prepared to jump to hyperspace when we are far enough from the planetoid." Alvar Parix stared at her with concern from the co-pilot's seat but said nothing.
"We'll have to find a path through all those ships first..." Cybercat said. She was right. There were dozens of ships in front of them covering all the possible jump points. The woman had shivered when she had noticed the Interceptors racing towards them. The memories from her last battle were still very fresh. She had been about to be shot down and Shok'wave could have died. But this was what she had promised to do when she had joined the Rebel cause, there was no place for fear. Danger has always been a part of it. She concentrated on flying.
"I think we could escape if we head to three zero two point seven." Angelrose said. "But we'll have to pass very close to one of those Star Destroyers..."
Joker checked the computer and saw that the path proposed by Angelrose effectively had some chances of success. Behind the Star Destroyer on the left, the one called Skies Cleaner, there was a narrow corridor free of ships, but her appreciation of the situation was true too. They would have to pass very, very close to it.
"All right." She said at last. "But if this fails I'll remember that it was your idea, Angelrose."
"Thank you, Joker, you're very kind..."
Granite saw a bright red dot on his rear display. He checked the computer quickly and was relieved when he discovered it was Foxfire's Interceptor. Suddenly four laser shots missed him just by inches.
"Wow, I hope that Foxfire doesn't take her role too seriously..."
He started to jink enough to avoid the fire but also keeping his trajectory. If there was any Imperial watching he wouldn't doubt that Foxfire was trying to shoot him down.
You got the point, Granite. Foxfire thought as she squeezed the trigger again. One of the bolts almost hit Granite's port S-foil. Pheeeew, I have to be more careful...
Moose selected dual missiles and observed the counter indicating the distance to their target decreasing quickly. They would be in range soon, but the Frigate's Captain had noticed that his ship was being targeted and had ordered to move it. It was now offering her bow, where most of her weapons were concentrated. Its weakest point, the long structure that connected the bow section with the engines was now hidden. Moose noticed that his own threat indicator was blinking. The Frigate's gunners were obtaining a lock on him and they would be launching missile after missile in a matter of seconds. A glance at the rear display showed that no less than ten Imperial fighters were following Foxfire's. They were reaching them.
"What do you think, Granite?"
"We are going to love this." Was the answer.
"I must have imagined you were going to say that, you crazy
Caldanian..."
Vyper was racing after Shok'wave's and Zeppelin's B-Wings. Their situation was even worse than their squad-mates attacking the other Frigate. Not only was there the Frigate and the incoming fighters. Three Corvettes were trying to cut their path to the Frigate, and they were starting to shoot at them.
If by any chance I'm hit by one of those Corvettes, I'm going to make a nice ball of fire...
He shot against the two B-Wings taking care of missing every time. He was dangerously close to them. Zeppelin must be smelling my after shave. That must be restraining the incoming Interceptors from shooting themselves, because they were now just behind him.
"Hey, Banshee One, you wouldn't hit a Star Destroyer if you were parked inside of her!"
The Imperial pilots are getting impatient.
"Move aside and let us real pilots do the job!"
Very impatient.
Psycho was flying freely trying to be everywhere at once, shooting against every fighter that crossed his sight. He had managed to destroy an Interceptor and a TIE Fighter in the first moments. But there were more of them every time. He had selected his old transport and the two shuttles on his computer, observing them from time to time. The trick seemed to be working, because nobody was attacking them. Until now. Four Interceptors had been launched from Senderis and were heading to them. When he targeted the leader ship he couldn't avoid an exclamation of surprise.
"It's my friend Delta One again!"
He redirected all the energy to the engines and raced after them. His shields were losing power quickly. It was not only that all the energy was now feeding the engines, besides he had several fighters on his tail trying to reach him. The A-Wing was managing to outrun them, but he was still receiving some shots from them. He changed the shield selector to concentrate all the remaining power on the rear part.
"Resist, please, resist..."
Joker was the first one who noticed them this time.
"Here they come again!"
"I see them!" Cybercat replied. "An A-Wing is chasing them!"
"Yes, it's my A-Wing!" Joker said consulting the screen. "It must be Psycho."
"A friend of yours?" Alvar asked.
"Yes, a good one. Tell everybody that we're going to move a bit..."
[Imperial Class Star Destroyer Senderis's bridge]
"Sir, they are only five fighters, four B-Wings and a lonely A-Wing"
"I can't understand Rebels. This is a suicide attack." Commander Perdiggo said. "Very well, our fighters will finish them off. Communicate with Skies Cleaner. We are going to continue with the operation. Will be opening fire in seven minutes."
"Aye, sir."
Commander Perdiggo turned to a second officer.
"What about that transport and the shuttles?"
"They are going to be intercepted as you ordered. Lieutenant Hagger is commanding a group of fighters from Delta. We have sent three Stormtrooper Transports to board them. They are ready to disable them if needed."
"Perfect. I wonder if the Rebel attack is related with that transport. Inform me when they are captured."
"All right, sir."
"We can't forget the Frigate either, Watcher."
"Their fighters are helping in the fight against the Rebels, sir. They insist they have received orders from Lord Vader. The Captain says that they were informed about Ballard Two's help at the last moment."
Commander Perdiggo frowned.
"Maybe they have nothing to do with whatever that transport is doing here, but we can't be too sure. Keep an eye on Watcher. When we finish our present mission I'm going to have a long talk with her Captain. Now tell him that we are going to board their shuttles besides Ballard Two. He must order them to co-operate."
"Aye, sir."
Foxfire had to break to avoid being shot by the incoming Interceptors. It seemed that they didn't want to wait any more for her destroying the two B-Wings. She manoeuvred to let the Imperial fighters pass. She counted ten.
Let's see how many I can shoot down before they catch me...
Moose felt several impacts on his rear shields. He compensated them with the forward ones and tried to keep his route.
"It seems Foxfire is taking better aim!" He said.
"That was not Foxfire!" Granite answered. His computer beeped several times. "More bad news, the Frigate has launched missiles!"
Foxfire targeted the closest Interceptor and fired. When the ship exploded the Rebel pilot was already shooting against a new enemy. Shouts and curses filled her ears when the Imperial pilots noticed what was happening. Three of them abandoned the chase and turned to engage her. She managed to finish off the second fighter but she had lost her initial advantage. Suddenly two more Interceptors appeared on her tail. They fired at her with their four laser cannons linked.
And two of the Interceptors that had turned to attack her became balls of fire.
Foxfire looked at her screen. Those were Iceman and Shadow. She changed to White Squadron's pre-arranged frequency. Immediately she could hear Shadow's voice.
"Together again, eh?"
"We must help Granite and Moose!" Foxfire said. She had lost contact with them, but they were not too far, only one klick away. Five TIE Interceptors were hunting them. "Catch those bogies the sooner you can!"
"Ok, see you later!" Iceman said. He and Shadow raced
after their comrades while Foxfire got into a dogfight with the remaining TIE Interceptor.
She didn't return to the Imperial frequency so she had not to hear the pilot's threats .
"Moose, Granite, we are coming!" Shadow called. She and Iceman were managing to reduce the distance between them and the slower B-Wings.
"Make yourself at home!" Granite said. The fighters on their tail were a serious problem, but he was concentrated on a bigger one. The incoming missiles. If they tried to evade too soon the warheads would cut the angle and the Rebel pilots would be dead. That was if the Imperial Interceptors didn't finish the work first. Oh, yes, the Interceptors... Granite thought.
"Don't you think these Interceptors are too close?" Moose said.
"You've just read my mind, man!"
"Here they come. On my mark. Three, two, one, NOW!"
The two B-Wings rose briskly when the wave of missiles was about to hit them. Granite was reached only by one and Moose by two, their shields managing to resist. But some of the warheads impacted on the Imperial fighters that were following them. The explosion was spectacular, trapping the five TIE Interceptors and the rest of the missiles. Granite felt his fighter trembling from the expansive wave.
"Are you both ok?" Iceman asked. He couldn't tell what exactly had happened, as his sensors had been temporarily blinded by the explosion.
"Yes!" Moose answered. "Those were the Imperials, the Frigate's gunners have not been very careful..."
"That gives me an idea." Iceman said. "You just worry about hitting that Frigate."
Iceman identified the Nebulon B Frigate on his computer and used the Imperial frequency again.
"Banshee Three to Portcantell, what are you supposed to be doing? You have destroyed five of our fighters!" There was a second of silence. Iceman didn't wait for the answer. "Someone is going to pay for this, I promise! Now leave the Rebels to us!"
"Roger, Banshee Three. We are ceasing the fire, but don't allow them to get closer." The reply came finally. It had worked. Iceman returned to the previous frequency.
"Now launch those torpedoes and let's get out of here!"
Moose had not heard the conversation, but he supposed that Iceman had had something to do with the fact that their threat indicators were turning off for the first time. He looked at the Frigate one more time. Two klicks. With the shields so low they wouldn't resist too much time in front of her.
"Hey, mate, we'd better shoot from here..." He said.
"I've reached the same conclusion." They couldn't hit the weakest point, but the bridge section was not a bad target either. Iceman and Shadow's Interceptors were very near now. They had started to shoot at them, but a group of TIE fighters was approaching from starboard, and they wouldn't wait for too long before to open fire themselves.
"Ok, then!" Moose pressed the trigger. Nothing. He tried one more time. The torpedoes remained in the launchers. "What in the hell...?" He was starting to say while squeezing the trigger again and again. Suddenly, all the twelve torpedoes were launched in pairs without his intervention. Fortunately he had kept the target lock on the Frigate the whole time.
"I suppose that we mounted those launchers too fast!" Granite said. He had also managed to launch his torpedoes after several attempts.
"That doesn't matter now. Let's go!"
The two B-Wings turned to move away from the Frigate, followed by their friends' Interceptors. Twenty four torpedoes were heading towards the Frigate Portcantell. All of them were locked on the same spot. The forward laser towers were starting to shoot again trying to hit the missiles. It was too late.
Shadow looked back and saw in astonishment how the Frigate's bridge section completely disintegrated in a huge explosion. The ship started to spin out of control.
"Superb work, you guys!" She cheered, although a look at her display made her to become serious immediately. "Uh, oh, it seems that you have attracted a lot of attention..."
Dozens of Imperial fighters were racing towards them.
"Don't worry about us." Moose said. "But you both should be thinking of returning closer to our Frigate. I guess we're not going to be that much longer over here..."
"Very well." Shadow said. "But first we'll try a pass on those TIE fighters..."
"I'm with you." Iceman replied.
Vyper had been forced to move out of the Imperials' path as Foxfire had done just some seconds ago. He had received an impact on his right solar panel before finishing the manoeuvre. Eight TIE Interceptors and four TIE fighters were now shooting against Shok'wave and Zeppelin. The three Corvettes were exactly in front of them, making impossible the attack on the Frigate.
The Rebel pilot carefully observed the Imperial formation before shooting. The leader ship was closely followed by two wingmen. The rest of the Interceptors were a bit more separated, while the four TIE fighters were flying exactly above them. One of the Imperial pilots was joking about Vyper. He smiled and targeted the first Interceptor. He linked his four cannons and fired.
Zeppelin looked back briefly and saw the closest TIE Interceptor exploding spectacularly, trapping one of its partners too. This second TIE's top hatch was launched upwards violently and an explosion inside its cockpit indicated that the pilot had managed to eject. His fighter blew apart in pieces an instant later. A third Imperial pilot desperately tried to avoid the debris, lost the control and collided laterally with another fighter. The two Interceptors must have come out seriously damaged because neither of them returned to the formation.
"Phweee, four at once!" Exclaimed Zeppelin. "It seems that Vyper knows what he is doing!"
"I saw it! He did it just in time..."
Their shields had received a severe punishment. She had been about to order Zeppelin to break, but now she thought that they could resist a bit more. She cursed when her computer informed her of new ships in the area. Four klicks beyond the Corvettes, the Nebulon B Frigate that was supposedly their target was launching her fighter squadrons.
Well, the objective is to hit something. She thought. Whatever as long as we keep the Imperials far from our ship.
"Zeppelin, forget the Frigate and attack the nearest Corvette. You know the drill, six torpedoes!"
"Aye, Boss!"
She was targeting the second one when she heard Zeppelin cursing furiously. All his torpedoes were being launched at once.
"I'll kill Moose and Granite, I swear it!"
They heard through the intercom how the aforementioned pilots were also having the same kind of problems. Shok'wave thought for a second about the Corvette receiving those twelve torpedoes. That would be a nice bonfire...
She move her finger off of the trigger.
"Zeppelin, try to pass as close as you can to that Corvette when it explodes!"
"Are you crazy?"
"For some seconds the sensors of all those ships are going to be sluggish!"
"All right, I see it. They can't shoot at us if they don't know where we are..."
The threatened Corvette was trying desperately to evade the torpedo wave, but Zeppelin had had a firm lock on the Imperial ship when he shot. One of the gunners managed to destroy one of the torpedoes but it wasn't enough. The Corvette exploded furiously creating a dense cloud of flamed gases and pieces of flying junk. The two B-Wings crossed through the hell of fire losing part of their shields, but they reappeared on the other side intact. The two pilots forced the engines to maximum speed and flew over the two remaining Corvettes before their gunners could recover their instruments' use. Vyper couldn't follow them. If he had tried to, his unshielded TIE Interceptor would have been destroyed. He lost them on his screen too, his sensors saturated with the energy from the recent explosion. When his displays started to work again he discovered he was surrounded by Imperial fighters trying to shoot him down. His ship was suffering some kind of power problem, because the impact he had received on the right solar panel had burnt many solar cells, but all the fighter's systems were still operative.
"Well, time to teach these boys some tricks..." He said. He was far from feeling confident though. Three Interceptors and the four TIE Fighters were firing at him.
"How much have the Rebels paid you, you traitor?"
Vyper switched off the Imperial frequency and started to fight for
his life.
Hagger had the transport pretty much centred on his sight. He caressed the trigger.
"Ballard Two, this is Delta One. Stop your engines immediately or you will be destroyed. There won't be a second warning!"
Joker heard the threat and shivered. That pilot was not joking. But she couldn't obey that order.
"I'm sorry, Delta One." She said into her microphone. "I would do what you ask, but my throttle has just broken and I can't reduce my speed. Can you believe that?" Alvar look at her with admiration. This woman had courage.
Hagger was stunned when he heard Joker's voice.
"Did you have a change of gender in that Frigate?" He asked.
"I suppose you wanted to talk with my friend, but he couldn't come on this trip. But I'll send him your greetings."
Two klicks away Psycho was struggling to reach Hagger's group.
That's it, Joker, try to delay them a few more seconds...
"Stop your engines or you aren't going to send anything at all!"
"Hey, that was the second warning! Are you a liar, a gentleman or didn't they teach you how to count at the school?"
"Delta Three, shuttle One. Delta Four, shuttle Two. Delta Two, just cover me."
"Aye, sir."
He shot against the transport with his linked cannons.
Everybody started to cry onboard the shaking vessel. Joker manoeuvred as best as she could to avoid the incoming fire. Cybercat and Angelrose were having similar problems.
"You're in a really bad mood today, Delta One! Something you had for dinner?" Joker tried not to seem as scared as she really was.
"Today must be the joker's day!" Hagger said. He was turning for a second pass.
"How have you guessed it? Joker, everybody call me Joker!"
He was about to reply when he saw something approaching just in front of him. "Watch out!" He cried pushing the stick violently forward. His fighter only received one hit, but the terrible cry that came through his headphones told him that his wingman had not been so lucky.
"Hi, Delta One. I finally changed that can for this A-Wing! What do you think?"
"Damned Rebel, I'm going to kill you right now!"
"Oh, you don't know how sorry I am to hear that. Should I also consider you aren't going to buy me those drinks?"
The three Imperial pilots were now dogfighting with Psycho. Joker recovered her previous route and checked the computer for a damage report. The shields had absorbed all the laser bolts but they had lost a lot of energy. The ship itself was intact.
"How are you, girls?" She asked. Her display showed one of the shuttles very close to her and the other a bit further behind.
"I can't believe how you had the nerve to be joking with a guy who is shooting at you with four laser cannons!" Angelrose said. "Well, I've received a little damage, but I can fly. People back here have become somewhat nervous though."
"The same over here!" Cybercat said.
A great explosion suddenly illuminated the space several klicks away at their ten o'clock.
"It seems that our people are giving a great spectacle!" Angelrose exclaimed.
"Let's pray all the gunners on that monster are looking at it. We are in range..." Cybercat said nervously.
The giant shape of Skies Cleaner almost filled their forward visors. Joker noticed several TIE Fighters racing to the explosion's area. At least they were temporarily free of them.
"Try to pass unawares..." Joker said. Alvar was looking at the Star Destroyer with a concerned expression.
"If somebody can get us out of here that is you, Joker." He said.
"Call me Diana if you want." She replied without moving her eyes from the Imperial ship. "Oh, damn it...!"
A TIE Interceptor appeared just in front of her. Joker was about to evade when the fighter made a roll and passed over them without shooting.
"Why didn't he shot?" Alvar asked.
Joker consulted the computer. The fighter had passed so close that the transport's sensors had identified it without problems. Banshee Two.
"Because that was Foxfire!" Joker exclaimed.
"I love it that you have so many friends..." Alvar said.
Hagger took a look at his display and selected Ballard Two's signal. It was more than two klicks away.
"Leave me alone with the Rebel!" He ordered. "Destroy the transport and the shuttles!"
"All right, sir!" The first answer came. The second one was cut off when the TIE Interceptor was hit headfirst and his pilot killed. The fighter continued into outer space spinning out of control.
"That has been one of ours, sir!" The other pilot shouted.
"It must be another Rebel!" Hagger said. "Engage him!"
"Now it's you and me, my dear friend!" Psycho said. He missed Hagger's reply. He selected White Squadron's frequency and prayed that Foxfire was using it too. "Foxfire, can you hear me?"
"Yes, my friend!" She answered immediately. "The Imperial frequency is too filled of insults and curses, too much for my delicate ears!"
"Glad to hear you." Psycho had to laugh even in the middle of that situation. "Now forget the Imperials and race towards the Frigate while you still can. If we are going to escape it'll be soon, and you..."
"... and I have no hyperspace capabilities, I know." She turned back with a TIE Interceptor looking for her tail.
"Surely you can explain this gentleman that he can't follow me to the women's toilets..."
"Of course I can!" Psycho transferred all the shields energy to the rear part and targeted Foxfire's pursuer. Hagger's Interceptor was exactly on his tail, but he kept flying straight time enough to shoot down the other Imperial fighter.
"You are free now. RUN!" Hagger's shots were about to collapse his shields. Psycho pulled back on the stick and faced his opponent.
Foxfire pushed the throttle forward and searched for Watcher's signal on her computer. She redirected all the energy to the engines but she still wasn't satisfied.
"How can I make this damned thing fly faster?"
[Frigate Watcher's bridge]
Sergeant Rammes had been observing the battle on the different monitors with concern. Until now he had managed to keep his current position without being threatened by anybody. But that could change at any moment. The colonists had been placed all together in the lunch room, where some of the Rebel crewmen were giving them some food. They had starved these last days from the destruction of the Imperial facilities as they had depended entirely on Imperial supplies and those had been denied since then. But not all of them were eating. Many people were very nervous, constantly asking about the rest of the colony. All they could see around them was Imperial, and that didn't contribute to their tranquillity. Some of them were still doubting if their hosts were Rebels or not. Lelha Dengar checked the monitors one more time for him. The transport and the shuttles were moving away from the Frigate. Their pilots must have decided to attempt the hyperspace jump by themselves. That would make Rammes' work easier. If they managed to make it all he would have to do was turn the Frigate and jump to the pre-selected co-ordinates. He was not far from the jump point. But he couldn't leave while the pilots flying in TIE Interceptors were out there. He demanded his partner search for them too. All four seemed to still be flying. Dengar anticipated his next demand and continued with the Rebel fighters. She found the five signals. It was incredible, all of them were still alive. But the transport and the shuttles were going to pass terribly close to Skies Cleaner... He made a decision. The young man pushed a button on the nearest console. The scarce crew that remained could all hear his words.
"This is Sergeant Rammes from the bridge." He said. "All of you who can leave what you are doing now, run to the laser turrets. We are going to move closer to that Star Destroyer..."
"I hope you know what you are doing..." Dengar said.
"I hope so too."
[Imperial Class Star Destroyer Senderis's bridge]
"Sir, we are receiving new information from our fighters. It seems that some of Watcher's fighters are fighting against them..."
"What?" Commander Perdiggo stood up alarmed. "Damn it, I should have ordered to fire against that Frigate the same instant it appeared. They are undoubtedly protecting the transport and their shuttles. Have our troops boarded them?
"No, sir. They have not even been disabled yet. Lieutenant Hagger's group is under attack..."
"Quickly, show me their positions on the tactical screen, and obtain a projection from their present routes."
"At once, sir." The controller hastily did what he had been ordered and three red dots started to blink on the main screen. Yellow lines showed the more probable trajectories that the computed had calculated for them. Even without those lines their only escape route was pretty clear.
"Warn Commander Legann." Perdiggo ordered the first officer. "Those ships are going to pass very close to Skies Cleaner. They must use their tractor beams to trap them. The transport Ballard Two must be the first one."
"At once, sir."
"Call the fighter squadron's leaders. All fighters from Banshee must be shot down."
"Aye, sir."
"Sir, I've got something that could interest you." A young officer said.
Perdiggo approached the man's console and observed the data he was scrolling across the screen.
"I've been tracing the Rebel fighters from the point where they appeared, but their exit from hyperspace were not registered by our sensors..."
"Let me guess. They appeared very close to Frigate Watcher, didn't they?"
"Yes, sir."
"We need no more proof. Order Frigates Portcantell and Grannia to attack Watcher. I want it disabled and boarded.
"Sir, we have lost contact with Portcantell. They seem to have suffered serious damage..."
Vader will kill me for this... He thought shivering.
"Then order Escort Carriers Altaner and Richelord to help."
"At once, sir. Are we not going to attack them?"
"No. We must carry out Lord Vader's orders. Inform Skies Cleaner we are going to open fire against the planetoid in a minute."
"Aye, sir."
"But let's launch our TIE Bombers first..."
"At once, sir!"
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