By Alan B. Pechman

[email protected]

Category: Rebellion

Rated PG

Chapter Eight

Thirty starfighters of the Rebel Alliance shot forth from Yavin IV's

thick atmosphere like fireworks. Most were the older Y-wings, eighteen to be

exact. They were Gold Squadron augmented by Y-wings from a defunct squadron

that had made it to the Rebel Base in time for the battle.

The X-wings that accompanied them would have been at reduced

strength if it weren't for the timely arrival of Captain Bennington Narra and

what was left of his Blue Squadron. His forces brought Garven's Red Squadron up

to full strength.

Garven checked his scanner board. They were flying in loose

formation as they neared the massive orange gas giant that gave the system its

name. He did a complete system scan and tried to quell the flutter of fear in

his stomach as a lone red blip presented itself at 300 kilometers on the far

side of Yavin and closing: the Death Star.

He closed his eyes and refocused himself as he had done countless

times before on the verge of battle. Unlike those past times, however, he was

having a more difficult time calming his nerves and focusing on the battle

ahead. A thought occurred to him that, unlike those other battles, this one had

an ingredient that transcended the usual self-preservation factor: Finality.

He knew that if they lost this fight, the Rebel Alliance would

surely be crushed and all hope of restoring the Republic of old would be

irrevocably lost. It wasn't a comforting thought.

Wedge could barely contain himself. Thought patterns raced through

his brain like the frenetic joyrides of drunken swoop jockeys. He had seen the

briefing in a surreal context that made it all seem disjointed. Thoughts of his

parents, his childhood, and his time with the Rebel Alliance played out in front

of him. New friends and friends now gone appeared before his mind's eye. He

felt a burden to do justice to those that he felt he had failed and those that

counted on him now. He wished Doc were here. She always made him feel at ease.

Waves of anger washed over him as he thought of what the Empire had

taken away; they would pay for Papa and Doc's deaths.

The calm of a Tatooine evening after a sandstorm seeped into Biggs'

psyche. He felt clarity of mind as he glanced around him at the various

starfighters hurling through the void to their destinies. He glanced over his

shoulder to his right at the X-wing that held his best friend. It seemed so

right for Luke to be here, even if it was just a very short time ago that he

came back into his life. The camaraderie he felt was like no other he had had

in the Alliance. Luke was like a brother and as such his confidence soared.

With him on his wing, there was no way they could lose.

They were a couple of shooting stars that couldn't be stopped.

Luke felt more and more familiar with the controls of the X-wing

fighter as he flew onward towards the space station he had fled from just one

short day ago. He felt a righteous pride in the fact that he returned now to

avenge the deaths of his aunt and uncle, and most of all, his mentor.

An image of old Ben being cut down by the dark man in the mask

played itself over and over in his mind. Cold, hard anger forged itself in his

soul. Princess Leia had told him that he was none other than Darth Vader, the

symbol of evil that had murdered his very own father. Luke held him accountable

and would make him pay this day.

The Rebel fighters rounded the horizon of Yavin Prime and flew

onward towards the Death Star.

As they started around the far side of the massive gas giant, Garven

caught his first glimpse of the space station. From this distance it looked

like a small moon hanging serenely in the heavens. After a few more moments a

few details became prevalent, namely the space station's primary weapon. He

shuddered as he thought of the firepower it must have in order to vaporize a

whole planet. It was possible for an Imperial Star Destroyer, with its awesome

firepower, to reduce cities to slag and boil off small bodies of water, but to

pulverize an entire planet was a horrifying prospect.

Absently, he reached up and lowered his amber visor. It was time

for his squadron to report in. It was time to fight. "All wings report in."

"Red Ten standing by." Theron Nett said off of his starboard wing.

"Red Seven standing by." That was Elyhek Rue off of his port wing.

"Red Three standing by." Biggs' usual professional demeanor was

evident even over the distortion of the comm channel as he led Two flight.

"Red Six standing by." Jek Porkins said, flying off of Biggs'

starboard wing.

"Red Nine standing by." That was Lieutenant Naytaan, one of Narra's

boys off Biggs' other wing. He seemed able, but Garven wondered if he would

ever know for sure.

"Red Two standing by!" Wedge's anticipation sent a revitalizing

jolt through Garven. The boy certainly had passion.

"Red Eleven standing by." That was Wenton Chan, one of Narra's pilots. He was

also a young firestorm like Wedge.

"Red Five standing by." That was Skywalker. If he were even an

iota like his father, he'd be a great one. He had paired him up with Wedge

because the two seemed to bond well in what little time he saw them together.

He would keep that in mind for later assignments.

"Red Twelve standing by." Although Garven knew Ben Narra would've

like to have led his own squadron, circumstances dictated otherwise. He'd be a

good steadying force in this fight, though, and Garven was glad for it given the

fact that his unit's cohesiveness was a little shaky right now from his own

losses.

"Red Four standing by." John D. Another of Narra's boys.

"Red Eight standing by." Bren Quersey was the last of Narra's

pilots. He knew it best to keep as many of the pilots together that had flown

side by side, and for the most part, Red squadron was configured optimally as

such.

After hearing Dutch's Gold squadron report in, he knew they were

ready. The station was looming ever larger, and in a matter of moments, they

would be upon it. "Lock S-foils into attack position."

The fighters were bearing down now at close to full speed, arrayed

for battle. Garven felt his pulse quicken. The calming wave of serenity

finally stole over him as it had done countless times before. He also now

realized that this battle, even with stakes this incredibly high, was not really

any different than any other one he had flown in. He also realized something

else: the Imperials were so arrogant that they didn't even launch any fighters

at them. Then again, could he blame them? What were thirty assorted

starfighters to a planet-killing superweapon? He set his jaw. They'd all soon

find out.

"We're passing through their magnetic field. Hold tight," he said

as his fighter jolted as they passed through the artificial field. "Switch

Deflectors on, double front." The space station began filling his entire

forward pane. It was an awesome sight.

Wedge reached up and flipped the switch that operated his s-foils.

As he heard Garven's shield command he looked up again at the Death Star. It

was the biggest artificial construction he had ever seen. He couldn't believe

anything could be that big that wasn't natural. Wedge couldn't contain himself

any longer. "Look at the size of that thing!"

"Cut the chatter Red Two."

Even as Garven said that, Wedge tried to pick out any distinguishing

features as they zoomed closer. He could already see many, many gun towers and

shield emplacements. It almost looked like an entire defensive installation was

built onto a moon, not a whole construct.

He forced himself to relax his grip on the control stick. In

previous engagements he found that he always put a death grip on the stick,

causing his flying to be somewhat jerky. This time, he told himself, it would

be different. Billions of sentients across the galaxy depended on this battle's

outcome. Wedge knew if he didn't fly his best, others would die. He fought the

sudden tightening in his throat. Whatever happened here today, they must

protect the rest of the galaxy!

For the first time that he could remember, Biggs became afraid. He

tried not to show it, but now, with the space station looming right in front of

him, all pretense of a calm demeanor vanished. He had hoped Luke would be his

wingman, but Garven hadn't done that. At least Porkins was with him, though.

He fought the urge to turn and run.

It was now or never. "Accelerate to attack speed! This is it

boys!"

"Red Leader this is Gold Leader," said Dutch. His Y-wings were in

formation slightly above and behind Red Squadron.

"I copy, Gold Leader," said Garven.

"We're starting for the target shaft now."

"We're in position. I'm going to cut across the axis and try and

draw their fire." Garven banked to his right in a shallow dive. He lined up on

a gun tower and let loose with a volley of laser fire. He had his weapons

configured for single fire, giving him maximum speed between bursts. Although

not as powerful as a linked configuration, now was a time for expeditious use of

force. Around him, similar crimson bolts raced past, blasting away at towers

and gun emplacements on the Death Star's surface as the rest of Red squadron

joined in.

The Imperials didn't stand by and take it, though. Green beams of

coherent light angrily filled the sky as the space station's gunners tried to

destroy the swarming Rebel fighters. It was almost like a Wookiee swatting a

Bitemfly; the X-wings were too fast and small for the Death Star's defenses,

which as General Dodonna said, were designed to repulse capital ships.

Garven's front shields glowed as one of the enemy gunners managed to

score a hit. It did no damage other than knocking his forward shield completely

down. He reallocated his shield energy to cover his fighter's nose until those

shields could recharge.

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the offending gun

emplacement explode under Red Ten's guns. "Nice shooting Theron. Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Garven."

Wedge dove in on a shield tower. It had a lone turbo laser

emplacement on its top that slowly tracked its way towards him as he peppered it

with cannon fire. He banked sharp to his right as he knifed past the tower,

missing it by scant meters. More green bolts sliced up from the surface below

him from another gun emplacement. He whipped the X-wing over hard, 180 degrees

on its longitudinal axis, swapping his cockpit's position from starboard to

port. Almost instinctively he slammed the left etheric foot pedal hard causing

the snubfighter's nose to swing hard to port. As the X-wing's nose pointed

straight down towards the station, the offending gun tracked him and fired. As

green beams played around him, Wedge toggled his cannons to quad bursts and

fired back. His first burst missed as he dove straight at the station. His

second burst didn't miss; the gun emplacement blew up in a shower of metal.

Correcting his dive scant meters above the station, Wedge reoriented

himself towards the shield tower. He had to climb to shoot the gun on its top

giving him a distinct advantage. The massive turbo laser couldn't angle its

guns down and Wedge had time to fire two quad bursts into it as he climbed past.

Although it didn't blow up, it did cease firing.

He did a barrel roll and looked for more targets.

A torrent of enemy fire surrounded him and it was all he could do to

evade it. He wheeled about to starboard and dove for the station faster than

the guns could track. "Heavy fire, boss. Twenty degrees."

"I see it. Stay low!"

Luke watched from above as Wedge dove past the torrential firestorm

trying to knock him from the realm of the living. He decided that those

emplacements would be a problem. They looked to be defending a heavily shielded

tower so he angled his fighter for it and dove with reckless abandon. "This is

Red Five, I'm going in!"

Luke immediately picked up the shield tower visually and laid down a

steady fire pattern as he dove at it. Shot after shot seemed to bounce off of

the massive tower, its shields blazing red under the assault. Just as Luke

feared he'd have to pull up, the shields collapsed. Shot after shot penetrated

the tower until it blew up in a scintillating fireball. But it was too late for

Luke. He had fixated on the tower long enough to where he had no place to go

but through its destruction.

Biggs watched in horror as Luke's X-wing plunged through the fiery

explosion of expanding gasses and debris. "Luke! Pull up!" His heart caught

in his throat. Luke!

As suddenly as the tower flared into death, the fireball vanished.

Biggs strained in his harness as he wheeled his fighter around for a better

look, only to see a streaking X-wing, slightly scorched, pulling up from the

Death Star's surface. Thank the twin suns! "Are you all right?"

At first there was no response. Biggs feared his comm system was

down. "I got a little cooked, but I'm okay." Luke finally responded, sounding

a little shaken.

Garven finished a run at another deflection tower with similar

results except the tower still stood. He had only managed to take out one of

the four heavy turbo laser batteries that surrounded it. He spied two of his

X-wings angling in for an approach towards the same tower.

"Watch yourself! There's a lot of fire coming from the right side of

that deflection tower."

"I'm on it." It was Skywalker.

That kid seemed to be everywhere! "Let me know when you're going in," Garven

said.

"Stay there Luke, I've got it." Biggs looked to his right. He knew

Porkins had been thinking alike after they saw Luke and Garven try and take on

those emplacements; they were too tough to take on by one fighter. "Cover me,

Porkins."

"I'm right with you, Red Three." Porkins adjusted his internal

compensators up to the highest setting as he and Biggs dove down on the

emplacement. He liked to feel light in his cockpit due to his girth, especially

when diving. He hated getting bounced around. He followed just aft and

starboard of Biggs. Milliseconds after Biggs began firing, Porkins opened up

with his own lasers. Together the two made short work of the shield tower and

all but one of the gun batteries. As they flew past, Porkins felt a thud and

his fighter skewed hard to starboard. He fought to regain control.

Indicator lights lit up red all over his status board. He did his

best to fly and began the troubleshooting sequence, but this was bad. "I have a

problem here."

Biggs looked over and behind him as Porkins' fighter seemed to be

heading inexorably towards the Death Star's surface. He began a bank to

starboard, maintaining visual contact with Porkins' X-wing. "Eject!" Biggs

shouted at him.

"No, I can hold it!"

Biggs saw that that didn't seem likely. Porkins' X-wing looked

charred and the aft port engines were both arcing badly. "Pull up!"

Porkins heaved back on the control stick. It seemed as if the

fighter was slowly starting to pull up. "No, I'm all right. I'm all right!

I'm all rigaarrgh!!"

Jek Porkins felt a brief flicker of pain as his fighter impacted on

the Death Star's surface. Pain, and then nothing.

Luke's repeated blasts silenced the gun emplacement that took

Porkins out. He climbed up and banked around sharply, looking for Biggs. He

spotted him downrange by almost a whole kilometer and accelerated to catch up.

He knew Biggs and Porkins had been close and wanted to make sure his friend was

all right.

"Squad Leaders," he heard over the main frequency. "We've picked up

a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way."

Luke checked his scanners. He didn't see anything but his own

squadron mates and the Y-wings of Gold squadron. "My scope's negative. I don't

see anything."

Garven looked around. There! Diving from above! There had to be

about four squadrons worth of TIE fighters diving down on them. Things were

starting to look bad. He had to let his squadron know before it was too late.

"Pick up your visual scanning! Here they come!"

It almost wasn't enough. TIE fighters rained down upon both

Alliance squadrons in a frenzy of green laser bolts. Garven saw at least two

Y-wings explode on the initial onslaught as he himself rolled sharply to avoid a

similar fate.

X-wings, Y-wings, and TIE fighters began an earnest dance of death

above the Death Star. It became apparent that the Y-wings were being targeted

first due to their slow speed and sluggish maneuverability. But that left the

more agile X-wings free to defend them, and defend them they did.

Two TIE fighters hammered mercilessly on a lone Y-wing that tried

its best to avoid being shot down. A calm fell over Wedge as he dove down upon

the scene. He'd been feeling out of sorts firing at gun towers that seemed

faceless and detached from the living. Now, though, a real person was in

trouble and needed his help. He wouldn't let them down. He was done failing

his friends.

Like an avenging angel, Wedge fired a quad burst into the first TIE

fighter. His shot cored its hull and the Imperial fighter seemed to detonate

before his eyes. His wingman, sensing the attack from behind, took evasive

action.

Almost impossibly, the TIE banked away hard to port at a sharp

angle. Wedge once again hammered down on his left etheric pedal and managed to

swing his nose around, barely bringing the TIE into his sights. It was starting

to loop around the more ungainly X-wing so Wedge fired off a desperation shot.

Four crimson bolts leapt from his fighter, but only one grazed the port solar

array of the Imperial fighter, but it was enough. The TIE was knocked from its

trajectory enough for Wedge to recover his bearings. With another burst from

his guns, he finished the Imperial off.

"Thanks, Red Two. Thanks for saving me." Gold Eleven said.

Wedge smiled. "Any time, friend. Any time."

"Watch it, you've got one on your tail!" Garven shouted at Red

Nine. He rolled hard and climbed to try and save Lieutenant Naytaan. He

watched as Naytaan weaved to evade the TIE fighter's green bolts. Garven was

almost there when two green bursts knocked out one of Naytaan's starboard

engines.

"I'm hit!"

Garven swore under his breath as he came into range of the combat.

The TIE fighter, seemingly sensing his prey as hurt, drove home the attack. Two

more dual bursts finished off Red Nine, sending Lieutenant Naytaan to his death.

Garven saw that this TIE pilot was much too complacent as he lazily

dove away from Red Nine's expanding wreckage. Garven set his cannons for dual

fire and let loose. The crimson bolts from his fighter seemed to snap the TIE

pilot out of his catharsis and immediately began juking hard back and forth.

Garven held his thumb on the rate selector as he fired twice, once to just off

the TIE's port array, once off its starboard array. Predictably, the TIE framed

itself in by the incoming bolts and Garven switched to quad linked cannons and

as mercilessly as the TIE had done to Naytaan, he finished the Imperial off.

Luke barrel rolled around a lumbering Y-wing that was firing

frantically at several TIE fighters. He was about to help out when he noticed a

TIE fighter latch onto an X-wing off to port. It was Biggs. "Watch it Biggs!

You've picked up one on your tail!"

Biggs jerked his flight stick around in a random pattern, spoiling

many of the TIE's shots. But the Imperial was starting to frame him in and his

aft shields were beginning to fail under the barrage. Fear began to creep into

his mind and he desperately fought it off. Why was this happening! He had been

in numerous dogfights and had been calm and collected. For some reason he just

couldn't calm his nerves. "He's on me tight! I can't shake him! I can't shake

him!"

Biggs dove for the Death Star, hoping to evade his pursuer around

the shield towers, using them for cover.

"Hang on, Biggs! I'm coming in!" Luke banked hard to port as Biggs

and the pursuing TIE banked to starboard. Luke kicked down on his right etheric

rudder and jerked his fighter around, correcting for his mistake. He hadn't

much time. The TIE was framing Biggs and as they dove the Imperial seemed to be

finding his mark and began hammering on his friend's aft shields.

Biggs noted with dismay the wail of his R2 unit as his aft shields

collapsed under the withering hail of green death from behind. Try as he might,

he couldn't shake this enemy. He was dimly aware of Luke saying something and

before he knew it, the firing from behind had stopped.

His hands shook uncontrollably as he climbed away from the Death

Star, away from the combat. He had to regain control! He was losing it!

Luke watched as Biggs pulled up after he removed the TIE fighter

from his tail. "Biggs?"

Green bolts sliced through the void striking his own front shields.

Luke hung his fighter on its port S-foil and dove away in a half roll. There

was no time to find out if Biggs was okay.

Biggs saw that his shields were coming back online as his astromech

droid worked feverishly to restore them. He was above the combat now and looked

down below. He saw Luke's fighter twist away from another TIE fighter that was

angling in for the kill.

A simmering anger began filling his gut. Here he was, shaking like

a newborn womprat as his friend, who had never been in a dogfight, was fighting

his heart out. He already had watched helplessly as Porkins had died. He

couldn't let Luke do the same. He pushed forward on his control stick but the

X-wing didn't respond. He punched up his status board. His aft shields were

just coming online but he noticed on the schematic that his vector control jets

were glowing red. He punched another button and the R2 unit designated the

repair time as two minutes. He prayed for it to be quicker. He looked back

down to see Luke swinging wide of a gun tower, but he seemed to be swinging too

wide. He looked as if he might slide into the space station! "Luke! Pull in!

Pull in!"

Wedge heard Biggs' call to Luke and spotted the young Tatooine

native's fighter slewing wildly around a gun tower. "Watch your back, Luke!"

Wedge flew straight for the melee but didn't make it. Two TIE

fighters seemingly materialized out of nowhere, firing relentlessly at him.

Kicking his X-wing up on its starboard S-foil, he managed to shake them

temporarily. He swung around hard to port as the TIEs looped around fast. The

Imperials were heading at him head on, which Wedge knew was the most deadly

confrontation in dogfighting when it was one on one. But this was two on one.

He switched to dual fire and tried to concentrate on one fighter at a time as

the range between the three fighters shrank in a hurry.

Green bolts rained blisteringly hard on his front shields, lighting

them up in an eerie firestorm. He fired back and managed to blow the port solar

array completely off the first TIE fighter sending it careening off towards the

Death Star's surface.

His front shields collapsed as the other TIE fighter raced past him.

He redistributed his shield energy evenly but knew the reallocated power

wouldn't be enough to withstand another head on pass. He craned his neck as he

wheeled around and saw that the TIE had already looped around and had him on a

perfect deflection shot that could not be avoided. Green bolts spewed forth as

he tried to evade.

Crimson bolts cored the hull of the descending TIE from below,

exploding it in a dazzling array, as a lone Y-wing streaked through its remains

in a fast climb. As it streaked past Wedge, the Y-wing waggled its fuselage

back and forth in salute. "We're even, Red Two!"

A smile blossomed on his face as Gold Eleven rejoined the fight.

Luke's fighter jolted hard as a shot knocked his aft shields down

and struck his top port engine, flaming it out. "I'm hit, but its not but it's

not bad. Artoo, see what you can do with it. Hang on back there!"

Miraculously, his R2 unit got it started again almost immediately. But he was

woefully short of shield energy and his one engine that came back online was

sapping much needed power as it spooled up. It was all Luke could do to evade

the continuous fire from the enemy behind him.

Garven climbed away from the TIE he was chasing as it careened into

a Y-wing, causing both fighters to crash into the Death Star in a tangled mess.

He straightened out and surveyed the battle.

Incredibly enough, the combined X-wings and Y-wings were winning the

day. Already the number of TIE fighters was reduced by at least half. He

cycled through his scanners and noted that Dutch and his two-fighter escort were

almost at the target shaft.

He began to home in on a pair of TIEs that had just ambushed Red

Eight. He threw more power into his drives, reducing his firepower somewhat,

but the main goal was to reach the harried X-wing.

Both TIE fighters fired continuously on Red Eight and before long,

Garven saw Red Eight's shields collapse. The Two TIE fighters connected a final

time and peeled away from the expanding fireball that had been Red Eight.

Garven caught one in a topside deflection and the TIE pilot never

knew what hit him.

He heard Luke yell he was hit and searched frantically for him.

Even with better odds, if he lost too many more X-wings, the tide of battle

would change fast. His pilots were largely rookies now while these Imperials

were pretty experienced.

"Red Six, can you see Red Five?" Garven asked.

"Six is gone, Boss." John D. said.

"There's a heavy fire zone on this side. Red Five, where are you?"

Theron asked. Garven saw his friend diving to look for Luke, assuming the young

pilot was caught up in the ground fire from the Death Star.

"I can't shake him!"

It became apparent to Garven as he heard Luke that he had one on his tail.

"Theron do you see him?"

"Yes," he answered. "Wait! Help me out here!"

Garven saw two TIEs ambush Theron from below. They must have gotten lost in the

space station's structure as their gray coloring blended perfectly with it. He

inverted his fighter and dove down to help his long time friend.

Wedge spotted Luke dodging and weaving, but he was at least a kilometer away.

He threw all remaining power to his front shields, and traded off their power

for speed. "I'm on him, Luke."

Full power came online for Biggs and just in time. He heard his friend in

trouble and resolutely looped back around. He was three kilometers out of the

fight, having had limited vector control, and had headed off into space on a

tangent away from the Death Star. He had time to gather himself and at least now

wasn't shaking in fear. He hoped he'd make it back in time.

"Blast it, Biggs, where are you?" Luke wondered what had happened to his long

time friend. He hadn't heard from him in a while and as he rocked his X-wing

evasively, he hoped Biggs or Wedge would get to him in time.

"Hold on!"

Luke picked up Wedge flying rapidly towards him. He dared to straighten out to

give the young Corellian a clean shot. Green bolts continued to rain around

him.

Wedge saw Luke's fighter straighten out and hoped Luke was doing what he thought

he was. He began to fire. Closing incredibly fast, he saw that Luke must have

picked up on his intentions and dodged to starboard, out of the way of his

shots. Shots that the pursuing TIE could not avoid.

The TIE fighter blew up in a rapidly expanding fireball. Wedge could not avoid

it and flew through the debris, pelting his own fighter. He smiled at the

thought of another lecture from Garven about what his paint job must look like.

"Thanks, Wedge." Luke said.

Biggs dove in after Luke. "Good shooting, Wedge!"

Wedge barrel rolled in response and circled back around. He joined up with Luke

and Biggs.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader." Dutch said. "We're starting our

attack run."

Garven nodded in satisfaction. Good, he thought, finally some

progress. "I copy Gold Leader. Move into position." Garven was circling high

above the combat now, trying to ascertain the flow of the melee.

"Spinner, give me a full logistic report of the battle please."

Garven asked his astromech.

The crimson-topped R5 unit scrolled the data he requested on his

display. There were only six Y-wings left, of which three were doing the attack

run. Not good. The Y-wings were supposed to make run after run against this

thing while the X-wings protected them. But when the TIEs attacked, the odds

were against them in a big way. There were still nine X-wings left. He had

lost Porkins, Naytaan, and Quersey so far. There were only 21 TIE fighters

left, 27 were destroyed.

"Red Leader, this is Red Eleven."

That was Chan, one of Narra's boys. "Go ahead, Eleven."

"Sir, I have three new contacts at 270 mark 13. They're coming in

fast. I'm moving to intercept."

Garven turned to the heading given by Red Eleven. He scanned the

battle with his eyes locked in place; it was an old dogfighting trick that made

it easier to pick up any movement. He filtered out the battle; the random

patterns of dogfighting soon faded and he spotted the three streaking TIE's that

were inbound. He toggled his scanners until he locked onto them. The lead TIE

was like no other he had ever seen before. It had inwardly canted wings and an

extension to the rear part of its fuselage. He had a bad feeling about it.

"Eleven, take Red Twelve with you. Do not intercept them alone."

"Twelve is negative." Narra's deep, calm voice said over his

headset. "I've got my hands full, Lead."

"I'm on it, boss." Red Four said.

"I'm coming boys, be careful." Garven dove in on the three new

TIEs. He could see Red Eleven attempting a head on with the canted TIE while

Red Four was flying in from port for a deflection shot. He estimated he was

about thirty seconds from arriving when the lead TIE with the canted wings

fired. Red Eleven never had a chance, never even getting a shot off. His

X-wing blew to pieces before he even knew what hit him. After that, the two TIE

wingmen peeled off in opposite directions while the lead TIE did a loop. Red

Four stayed with the TIE that had presented its aft to him. That seemed exactly

what the TIE group wanted. The leader swooped down behind Red Four with the

other wingman rejoining him. The Leader made short work of Red Four.

Whoever was in that lead TIE fighter was the most dangerous

adversary he had ever seen. With hardly any effort he had destroyed two of his

fighters. They flew away from the combat, heading towards the target shaft.

Garven couldn't target them anymore because they were too far out of range now.

"Dutch! This is Garven." Garven said over the Y-wing frequency.

"Dutch, come in!" No answer. He could see the three TIE fighters dipping into

the target shaft now. They must have jamming going on in that trench or, for

some reason, the shaft blocked his transmissions. He didn't have time to ponder

it as three TIEs from below spotted him and raced up to fight.

The minutes went by in a slow motion for Wedge. He felt an eerie

calm as TIE fighters drifted like sludge in front of his gun sights. He seemed

to be invincible. Two TIE fighters had ambushed a Y-wing. He got there as they

destroyed it, but made quick work of the unsuspecting Imperials. They paid they

debt, but he wasn't done collecting.

Biggs seemed to fly through the combat without conviction. He had

waves of lucidity where he was fine and helped out followed by periods of terror

when it was all he could do to keep from getting himself killed. He couldn't

explain it. He was gliding out of the combat in a fit of fear when he noticed

an X-wing pull in besides him. He looked over at it. It was Red Seven, Elyhek

Rue.

"Biggs, what the hell are you doing?" Rue's normally calm voice was

filled with anger and emotion.

"I, I don't know, Ely."

There was a pause. "That much is obvious, Biggs." Rue's voice was

once again under control. "You flew right past Gold Eight as it got vaped and

did nothing and I had to shoot a TIE off of you just now. Are you blind?"

"No. I just…" Biggs looked away.

"You just what?"

Biggs pressed his lips together in a firm line. He took a deep

breath and tried to calm his shaking hands. He started to bank back towards the

fight. Rue stayed with him.

"I'll tell you this, Darklighter. If you're going to fight like

that, you might as well head back to base. We don't need you around here as a

liability. Give it up. Go home." And just like that, Rue was gone, peeling

off hard to starboard, back into the fray.

Biggs grimaced. Who did Rue think he was criticizing him like that?

He was here fighting and doing his part. He spied Luke's fighter streaking

past in pursuit of two TIE fighters. He didn't see the trailer coming up behind

him.

Who did Rue think he was talking to? Biggs got angry and raced

after Luke. He caught up to the trailing TIE fighter and bloodlessly blew it

from the heavens. He was right beside Luke in an instant and together they shot

the two TIEs apart.

"Thanks, Biggs. Good save."

"Nice shooting, Biggs." It was Wedge.

"About time." Rue said.

Anger filled Biggs. "I'll show you, Rue. You won't even come close

to my totals when I'm done here!" Biggs peeled away from Luke and into the

heart of the combat.

Rue watched as Biggs flew off, followed closely by Luke and Wedge.

It seemed as if he snapped Biggs out of whatever was troubling him, at least for

now. Not wanting to be left out, he banked and joined the fray.

"Gold Five to Red Leader."

It was Pops Krail. Garven swallowed hard, a lump forming in his

throat. He and Tiree had escorted Dutch on the target run.

"Lost Tiree, Lost Dutch."

"I copy, Gold Five." It had to be those blazing TIE fighters. He

punched the side of his cockpit.

"They came from behind.." Garven heard the telltale squelch of a

fighter's comm unit when it was destroyed. Pops was gone.

Dutch and Pops were two of his closest friends. Gone. Just like

that. He surveyed the scene around him. There was only one Y-wing left and

seven X-wings. There were at least fourteen TIE fighters. At this rate,

attrition was on the Empire's side and they were running out of time and

options. He knew what he had to do.

"Red Group, this is Red Leader. Rendezvous at mark six point one."

"Red Leader, this is Base One. Keep half your group out of range for

the next run."

"Copy, Base One," answered Garven. "Luke, take Red Two and Three.

Hold up here and wait for my signal...to start your run."

Wedge heard Garven's command. He could see Luke's X-wing beginning

its climb, a TIE in the Tatooine native's sites. Climbing often left one

exposed and in Luke's case, two TIEs broke off in pursuit.

He could tell an X-wing had pulled in beside him as he closed the

range between himself and Luke's pursuers. At just under a kilometer he had one

of the TIEs bracketed perfectly and let loose with a singular quad burst. It

hit at the base of the port wing root and blasted through the port ion engine

causing a multi-pulsed explosion that sent the doomed fighter spinning off to

starboard. The other TIE seemed to be hit by who he assumed was Biggs. It was

obviously in trouble by the blue arcing coming from its engines. It shot off

away from the space station, clearly out of control, heading for deep space.

Time began speeding up again as he left the combat arena to join

Luke, who had also vaped the TIE fighter he was chasing. Wedge looked over to

starboard. It wasn't Biggs at all.

"Nice shooting, young man." He could make out Narra giving him a

salute. "Good hunting!" And just like that, the older pilot wheeled away,

diving back into the fray.

Wedge formed up with Luke. "Have you seen Biggs, Luke?"

"Not in a while, wait, there he is, climbing up from point two two."

Wedge looked in the direction Luke indicated. Biggs had a lone TIE

framed and seemed to be toying with it. He was firing singularly, one shot

posting against each evasive move it tried to take.

"Biggs, need any help?" Luke asked. "We're supposed to form up

here per Red Leader."

"I copy that, Luke." Biggs answered. "This particular Imp decided

it would be fun to torment the Y-wings before he vaped them. I had him marked

throughout the combat but couldn't engage him until now. I guess I'm done." A

singular quad burst from Biggs ended the TIE fighter's existence. Biggs climbed

up and joined Wedge and Luke.

Wedge looked down upon the scene below. There was a lone Y-wing

left and one X-wing, and they appeared to be making short work of the remaining

TIEs. "Who's that in the Y-wing? I know that's Narra in the X-wing."

"That's Gold Eleven. It's Keyan Farlander, normally an X-wing

pilot. He's apparently quite good." Biggs said.

"Why isn't he flying one?" Luke asked.

"Not enough X-wings to go around."

Wedge still thought they should be down there helping out. "Why

don't we dive down and help out? There are still seven TIEs left."

"We have our orders, Wedge."

"Luke's right, Wedge." Biggs added. "Besides, those two seem to

have everything under control."

Garven was just coming up on the target shaft trench and still

hadn't spotted the enemy TIE fighters. His stomach turned when he thought of

how skillful those Imperials were and the thought of not knowing where they were

made him queasy.

He was just over the trench now, a yawning darkness that stretched

away towards the horizon. From this low on the Death Star's surface, he

couldn't tell it was round. He shook his head, trying to relate to how large

the station was. But now it was time for it to die. "This is it!"

Followed by Theron and Elyhek Rue, Garven dove into the trench. He

pumped as much energy into the forward shields as he could, sacrificing laser

power for speed of shield recharge. He also switched over to proton torpedoes.

They wouldn't need the lasers down here.

Angry green bolts issued forth from the gun towers that lined the

trench. Most missed due to the fact that they were not quick enough to track

the speedy snubfighters. Off to port, Theron loosened up the formation a bit to

decrease the chance of a lucky shot causing enough collateral damage as to take

all three of them out. Rue followed suit.

At the speed they were traveling it would only be about two to three

minutes before they reached the target. He activated his targeting computer, an

older model that swung forward on a stalk. It stopped at his left eye, level

with it. He had tried to get his squadron fitted with the new integrated sensor

suites that made it easier to fight, but, he realized, that was something he

could worry about later. If there ever was a later.

"We should be able to see it by now," Theron said, leaning forward

against his restraints as if it could help any.

"Keep an eye open for those fighters," Garven said.

Theron continued his forward scan, and then systematically checked

all areas above and beyond his fighter. He didn't see anything and decided to

ask for help. "There's too much interference. Red Five, can you see them from

where you are?"

Circling above the trench with Wedge and Biggs, Luke banked far

enough to port so he could try and follow the three X-wing's flight down the

trench. He scanned for the fighters. He didn't see anything. "No sign of

any--wait, coming in point three-five!"

Theron looked up and to port. There! "I see them."

Three TIE fighters came screaming down from above. Even though they were

traveling fast, their group of X-wings would still be ahead of them. But for

how long?

Garven's targeting computer began to scroll down the range to target very

rapidly. He made minute corrections to his control stick; it didn't take much

to lose the target's acquisition, so a steady hand was paramount. "I'm in

range. Target's coming up. Just hold them off for a few more seconds."

As if in response to his request, a bright flash lit up his canopy from behind.

Garven pressed his lips together in a firm line. He knew one of his comrades

had just fallen to the Imperials, but he couldn't look, lest his concentration

waver.

The target was approaching rapidly. "Almost there," he said.

Feverishly, Theron jerked his fighter back and forth after Elyhek Rue's fighter

disintegrated under the Lead Imperial's attack. Even though he had more room to

maneuver, he didn't like the feeling he was getting being this exposed. He had

maximum shielding to his aft and prayed it was enough. It hadn't been for Rue.

He glanced down at his scanners and then looked over his shoulder. The

Imperials were closing faster. "I can't hold them!"

Theron felt a tooth-jarring jolt from behind him. The canted TIE didn't waste

any time and surgically shot Theron Nett's X-wing from the heavens.

The range to target in Garven's viewfinder scrolled down impossibly fast now.

Out of his right eye he could see the tower at the end of the trench and the

target shaft. He took a deep breath as the countdown reached zero. He was alone

and everything was riding on this shot. It was a shot that cost Rue and

Theron's lives. He had to make it count.

There was a beeping from his computer indicating a solid lock. He gently

squeezed the trigger, sending a proton torpedo screaming from the snubfighter's

fuselage mounted launcher.

"It's away!" Garven pulled back sharply on his control stick, climbing away

from the trench. He banked sharp enough to starboard in time to see the torpedo

explode. It missed.

"It's a hit?" He couldn't tell who had asked.

"Negative." Garven felt his heart sink. "Negative, it just impacted on the

surface."

Garven felt a thud and heard a sharp popping noise. On his status board one of

his engines glowed red, meaning it was out. He realized he hadn't been paying

attention to the pursuing Imperial fighters. Long years of dogfighting taught

him one main point, which was that loss of concentration meant loss of life.

Grimly, he tried to evasively lose his pursuit.

Wedge saw that Garven was in trouble. He and Luke and Biggs turned towards the

three TIE fighters pursuing Garven and were closing rapidly from above. He

hoped they would be there in time. It looked as if they wouldn't.

Luke tacitly felt the same thing as Wedge. "Red Leader. We're right above you.

Turn to point oh-five. We'll cover for you."

"Stay there," answered Garven. "I just lost my starboard engine." He noticed

his speed had dropped and a look at his scanners showed the pursuing TIEs were

right on top of him; the canted winged one in the lead. Whoever he was, thought

Garven, he was damned good. He had failed and he was going to die. His last

act was to try and lead the TIEs as far away from the trench as possible so

Luke, Wedge, and Biggs could get a jump on the target. "Get set up for your

attack run."

Garven felt another jolt from behind. His shields collapsed and his status

board lit up red all over. He had lost all directional control and was

plummeting towards the Death Star. Worse yet, he noticed his ejection system

had failed. In a last futile attempt, he hauled back on the fighter's control

stick, willing the stricken fighter to climb. He screamed under the effort. It

was too much, he couldn't hold it. He couldn't hold it! Then, everything went

black.

Garven Dreis was dead.

Wedge numbly watched in mute horror as his friend and mentor died. The calm he

had felt for the last few minutes of combat fled from him as quickly as it had

come. Garven and Biggs were the last vestiges of his ties to his past. He knew

they would all die in that trench. He almost didn't hear Luke's commands.

"Biggs, Wedge, let's close it up. We're going in. We're going in full

throttle. That oughtta keep those fighters off our tails."

"Luke, at that speed will you be able to pull up in time?" Biggs asked his

friend.

"It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home."

"We'll stay back far enough to cover you."

Biggs felt at ease now, all fears and anxieties vanishing. He knew he was going

to die. It was too late for them. He finally accepted his death and he was

comfortable in knowing that they had tried their best. He and Wedge provided

the only defense against the marauding TIEs that would try and kill Luke before

he reached the target shaft.

Biggs knew Luke was an excellent marksman and if anyone of them could make the

shot, it would be him. He idly thought that Porkins could have too, but like

the rest of the squadron, they were all but gone. Except for them and, he noted

as he checked his scanners, two others; an X-wing designated Red Twelve and a

Y-wing designated Gold Eleven. That was Narra and Farlander. He also noted

that they were engaging six remaining TIE fighters. He shrugged mentally. They

would soon die too. The Death Star had cleared Yavin and would be firing soon.

Even if they lived, where would they go?

As they zoomed down the trench. Wedge began to regain his confidence. They had

made it this far, hadn't they? Didn't he tell himself that he couldn't let

others down? Shoring up his own frailties, he settled down once more. He

mentally berated himself. There was just too much at stake for him to break

down like that.

He checked his scanner display. It showed they were fast approaching their

target. "My scope shows the tower, but I can't see the exhaust port! Are you

sure the computer can hit it?"

Green laser fire erupted from the gun emplacements in the shaft causing the

three X-wing pilots to spread out a bit. Luke felt they needed even more speed

and switched off his lasers, shunting all remaining power to the drives. Like a

stricken Bantha, the X-wing lurched forward. "Watch yourself! Increase speed,

full throttle."

Wedge and Biggs followed Luke's lead, each shunting laser energy to their

drives.

"What about that tower?" Wedge asked again.

"You worry about those fighters, I'll worry about that tower."

In response, Wedge looked over his shoulder just in time to see the three TIE

fighters zoom in from above. He began to weave and jerk his fighter around like

a deranged glitbiter he had once seen at his parent's fuelling station. He

could see that Biggs' fighter maneuvered evasively, but a lot smoother than his.

It didn't matter, though. He felt a jolt as his fighter dipped violently down

to starboard. He was hit! His status board lit up more than he had ever seen

it! Targeting was down, ejection controls were down, and worst of all, his

right, upper starboard engine was completely out. He fought to keep the fighter

under control but it was too sluggish. He suspected that his flight control

system was failing too. "I'm hit! I can't stay with you!"

"Get clear, Wedge." Luke said to him over the comm. "You can't do anymore good

back there."

Once again, Wedge felt as if he failed, the old fears rushing back into his mind

after he had worked so hard to keep their tide back. "Sorry," was all he could

manage as he heaved back on his control stick.

As he climbed away from the trench, he half expected them to follow him but they

didn't. He realized that he didn't matter, he wasn't a threat anymore.

He tried to switch comm channels because he couldn't hear Luke and Biggs anymore

and noted his unit had ceased working. He fought to control his fighter and

finally managed to get it heading back towards base, alone in his failure.

Biggs weaved back and forth wildly in an effort to stave off the inevitable.

They were almost at the target and he began to wonder if just maybe they would

succeed. Then he checked his scanners. The TIEs were closing again, only now

they closed in much faster. "Hurry, Luke, they're coming in much faster this

time. I can't hold them!"

He glanced over his shoulder. It appeared as if the TIE fighters were right on

top of him, the canted winged TIE in the lead. He knew the end was near either

way. "Hurry up, Luke!"

Green laser bursts blew through Biggs' rear shields. He could feel his fighter

pitch forward sharply.

He felt himself yelling a plea that fell on deaf ears as everything went black.

Slowly, Wedge's R5 unit brought various systems online, starting with his comm

unit. He heard someone shouting something about being all clear, and then there

was silence.

He was still sluggishly heading back towards base and wasn't sure how far he had

gone since his scanners were not finished being repaired. In front of him was

the massive gas giant, Yavin. Behind it he could see the jungle moon clearly

now. The fight over the Death Star had been drawing them closer to the moon and

he hadn't even realized it. He glanced back at the Death Star to see how far he

was from it.

Just as he did, it blew.

He raised a hand to his eyes, shielding them as much as possible. The initial

flash blinded him before the canopy's protective anti-glare coating could catch

up to the immense outpouring of light from the explosion. It had looked like a

mini supernova.

Wedge turned back around and took a deep breath. They had somehow won despite

his failures. He wondered if Biggs and Luke could ever forgive him.