By Alan B. Pechman

WedgeAntilles@worldnet.att.net

Chapter Five

Author's note: This chapter is based largely on the Dark Horse comic X-wing

Rogue Squadron ½ issue that was done in collaboration with Wizard magazine. Some

changes were made to allow for smoother transitions. Outside of the opening

scenes, the contents of this chapter are mostly their work and all credit goes

to them.

Jan Dodonna looked up from the data pad at the pilots seated before him. They

looked tired, but there was a certain sense of accomplishment radiating from the

group that wasn't apparent before. Previously, the Rebel pilots conducted

missions without nearly as much success as the last one they just flew. Perhaps

the winds of change were blowing and the fledgling Rebellion against the Empire

was starting to take its toll.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions on the raid at

the Graza asteroid belt. Thanks to your efforts, we have a supply of munitions

that will last for quite some time."

"Not if I can help it." Wedge said, grinning. Good-natured laughter echoed the

young Corellian's statement. Jan smiled at the youth's exuberance. Jan Dodonna

was the Supreme Commander of this Alliance and often as of late found little to

smile about. Hearing the young man's comments went along with the undercurrent

of excitement he himself was starting to feel.

"As long as young Antilles' fervor is directed at the Empire I'm sure the future

will be bright for us." He stepped around from the briefing table. He paced past

the pilots once and then settled his backside on the table, crossing his arms.

To Garven, Jan Dodonna epitomized the leadership that had been missing these

past few years and he knew the younger pilots looked up to him. Like himself,

Dutch, and Pops, Jan Dodonna was a veteran of the Clone Wars and had been

through a lot.

"Alas, we have much work to do." Jan eyed each pilot individually. "The road to

freedom is fraught with peril and the work left to be done, difficult. Many

sacrifices will be had by us all before we can truly sit back and enjoy the

fruits of our labors." He turned and reached for the datapad behind him. "To

that end, there is another mission that must be carried out immediately.

I need to speak with Red Leader upon completion of this briefing. But first, are

there any questions about the last mission or anything else."

Jon "Dutch" Vander raised his hand to which Jan acknowledged him. "General

Dodonna, is there any indication from our recordings as to what that Imperial

gun ship was that took out two of my pilots?" A murmur of questioning echoed

Dutch from the others seated.

"That is a good question, Commander." Jan looked briefly at his datapad. "We had

had some indications that the Cygnus Corporation had been conducting secret test

runs lately but no further intel was available. Our spies did get a holo of a

ship that bears striking similarity to the one you ran up against. My guess is

that you actually fought a prototype if not a fully functioning one. After our

analysts are through with the captured freighter we should have a better picture

of where that ship was supposed to go. Anything else?"

"Any word out of Alderaan?"

Jan looked at long time friend, Garven Dreis. "I'm afraid that and Princess

Leia's current mission is classified right now, so no, there is nothing further

there." Jan looked the group of pilots over again. "If there is nothing else

then you are all dismissed."

As the pilot's shuffled out, Garven and Dutch approached Jan. When they were all

alone, Dutch spoke. "If it's all the same, Jan, I want first crack at that

Imperial bastard that fried Kelleg."

Jan nodded. "I know, Dutch, I know. Believe me, if we can go on the offensive

against the Empire about this the sooner the better. That new weapon seems to be

quite a match to anything we have, including X-wings. We have something of our

own in the works right now which may help counter that, but I'm afraid it is

still going to be some time before it is operational."

Jan looked at his friends and their expectant faces. He smiled at Garven's big,

pleading stare. "That won't work Garven and you know it."

"Couldn't hurt to try."

"Well, Dutch, when we have more data collected, I'm sure the council will agree

to let us mount a raid or retributive strike for that attack on your squadron.

But let's not forget that the Empire is starting to finally take notice of us

and losing that cruiser is going to raise some eyebrows in Imperial High

Command."

"'Bout time." Garven looked miffed. "What do you have for me, Jan?"

Dutch nodded, "I'll talk to you later, Garven. General."

Both Jan and Garven acknowledged Dutch's departure with nods of their own.

"Garven, I'll get right to the point. We are low on astromech droids right now

and have a shipment of new fighters coming in, but no droids to go with them."

Garven knit his eyebrows. "That could be a little problem. But somehow, I take

it, you have a mission in mind?"

Jan smiled and put his arm around his friend's shoulders. The two began to walk

out of the briefing room. "As a matter a fact, as luck would have it, we do."

"Just don't tell the Darklighter kid. He don't buy into luck."

"Well, now that you mention it, he is one of the pilots I had in mind."

--------------------------------------------

Wedge took in the large room with a casual glance. More like a pit, he thought.

The noise from hundreds of sentients clamored loud enough to almost drown out

the Bith band that was playing on a stage in one corner. Pungent smoke and the

smell of cheap liquor carried the assault to his senses even further. He could

think of many other places he would rather be than here. A strong grip on his

right shoulder snapped him from the trance he had fallen into.

"Hey, Wedge, you awake?" Biggs easy tone brought Wedge back to the present.

Wedge looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Sure, this is the place. C'mon,

let's go see if we can liberate some credits from this casino."

"If we're not careful I'm sure it'll be our money that's liberated." Jek Porkins

said around the cigarillo of tabac he smoked. "Shall we?" Jek proffered his arm

to which Cesi "Doc" Eiriss accepted.

"Why thank you, Jek. At least you're a gentleman." She gave Wedge a wink as the

young pilot began to protest.

"Hey, Doc, I would have, you know."

"Relax, kid. There's other females here that would go for a bantha cub your

speed."

"Gee, thanks, Biggs."

The four pilots pushed their way past several patrons to one of the vacant

sabacc tables in the room. They were in one of Commenor's largest casino halls

that had a reputation for fast action, fast females, and fast trouble if one

wasn't careful.

Wedge casually rested his right hand on the butt of his blaster that hung low on

his hip, scanning the crowd for trouble. A few beings seemed to size the motley

group up and Wedge tried to scowl back with more ferocity than he was feeling.

Most of the curious let their eyes fall on the lithe form of Doc and that made

the young Corellian's blood boil. He had started to admit to himself that he had

a big crush on the Twi'lek pilot and was hoping that he could work up the nerve

to let her know how he felt. Growing up on his parent's busy refueling station

didn't leave the young Antilles with much time to socialize and he found it

difficult to express himself to members of the opposite sex, regardless of race.

He found himself trying to take his cues from the older pilots he was with.

The four pilots wore civilian clothing that suited their individual tastes.

Wedge wore a simple earth toned pullover with navy pants that carried faint

yellow piping that was indicative of Corellian fashion. He wore his worn nerf

hide jacket with ease.

Biggs Darklighter wore well made clothing befitting the son of a wealthy

magnate. They weren't flashy but the fit and design still spoke of wealth. His

wore his black silk jacket over a fine white linen shirt. His tan pants were

also tailor fit with black piping.

Jek Porkins wore a mauve collared pullover with a cinnamon vest that hid his

ample bulk well. But it was Cesi "Doc" Eiriss who drew attention.

Doc wore her lekku or brain tails draped around her head and neck as she always

did with simple gold earrings that offset her red eyes. She wore a tight fitting

halter-top that left her muscled midriff bare. An ornate golden armlet over her

upper arm and three gold bracelets chimed musically at her wrist. Her tan pants

were also very tight fitting. Her lithe form and attire drew many looks of

admiration from the crowd.

The pilots sat at an open sabacc table. All three men kept their jackets on

while Doc threw her black flight jacket over her the back of her chair. "Okay,

boys prepare to donate some of your hard earned credits to the Eiriss

scholarship fund."

Biggs smirked in the way he usually did. "Sure, Doc, whatever you say."

Each individual produced a credit voucher when an attendant droid came by their

table, processing each one in turn and leaving a stack of 50 credits at each

player's position. The golden pyramid that slowly rotated in the middle of the

table was the sabacc interference field. A blue skinned hydrati woman brought

drinks of lomin ale for the four of them.

Without much fanfare, the four pilots began playing away. Biggs knew that they

were to wait here for the signal from their contact, though he did not know from

where or when it would happen. He grimaced at the hand he was dealt. "Who dealt

these gundark droppings?"

Doc squinted at Biggs and smirked. "Sabacc is a game of luck, Biggs."

Her voice sounded husky, probably due to the smoke, thought Wedge.

"Not the way I play it." Piggy looked smug as he cupped his cards, hiding them

secretively.

"Big talk from a big man." Wedge smiled. "Let's see if you're all that you

bragged about, Piggy."

Piggy checked his hand and decided to gamble a bit since they weren't playing

with their own money. The Alliance had provided them with enough funds to blend

in to the casino crowd and await their contact. He passed his three cards, face

down, into the sabacc stabilization field to change their values and brought

them back. Cupping his hands, he looked down at his new cards. Their new values

almost made him want to laugh out loud at his luck. Now he wished the monies

being played was they're own.

"Another round Gents? And Lady?" The hydrati waitress asked.

"Sure, I think we've got time for one more." Wedge said. He noticed as the blue

skinned barmaid served their drinks that a special bulletin was starting up on

the holonet next to the bar. A picture of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan was

flashed up in three-dimensional detail while the commentator made his statement.

"Look at that." Wedge motioned to the other pilots.

"-And a curious note to the dissolution of the Imperial Senate- Princess Leia

Organa of Alderaan has vanished and cannot be found. We are trying to establish

our link with our news bureau on Alderaan but are experiencing technical

difficulties, in other news-"

"Hey did we come here to play or watch the holonet?" Biggs said nervously. "I

bet five credits." The other pilots tried to get back into the easy flow of the

game but were still distracted by the news. Their fellow pilots were escorting

the Princess and the news sounded grim.

Doc smiled at Biggs. "I'll see that."

Piggy eyed the two of them. Glancing down at his cards he gave a little shrug.

"Yours and mine. You're raised ten, my lady."

Doc surreptitiously glanced at her cards. They couldn't be as good as his so she

threw them down. "Too rich for my lekku. I'm out." She lifted her glass and

winked at Wedge. She proceeded to down the entire glass.

Wedge smiled. "Any Jedi would be wise enough to run for the hills, but I'm no

Jedi. I'm in." He lifted his glass and tipped it slightly towards Doc. Smiling,

the young pilot drank the rest of his ale.

"I of course, am in." Biggs said.

The triangular sabacc interference field began to rotate slowly. A mechanical

voice issued forth from a speaker at its base. "Please prepare for final flux,"

it intoned. "Select one card for stabilization." After a brief pause it said,

"Flux begins."

The three men looked at their cards to see what effect the stabilization field

had had on their one card to finish off the hand. Biggs spoke up first. "Well,

I'll check the raiser."

Wedge threw his cards down. "I'm out."

Piggy eyed the Tatooine native over his cards. A smile tugged at the corner of

his mouth. "Fifteen credits, my friend," he said as he pushed some coins into

the playing area.

Biggs arched an eyebrow at the older man. He fancied himself a fairly

respectable sabacc player and truly wondered at Piggy's apparent confidence. He

didn't know him well enough yet to figure out whether he was bluffing or not.

But, then again, he thought, it wouldn't do to let Piggy see him squirm. He

pushed a stack of credits forward, matching Piggy's sum. "You're bluffing 'my

friend.' What have you got?"

The portly pilot allowed a broad grin to play along his face, his beard framing

his smile well. "I believe the expression is 'scan 'em and weep.." Piggy arrayed

his cards on the table, face up. "Three Kings, Darklighter."

Biggs' eyes grew slightly at the hand placed down. He grudgingly placed his

cards down on the table. "Beats my firm straight."

"Three Kings?" Doc exclaimed. "I had you pegged for three Queens!" She said the

last as she leaned forward, looking at Piggy's cards as if they weren't there.

Doc leaned back heavily in her chair. "Fooled me, nice job, Piggy."

Piggy gave her a polite nod as he began to collect his winnings. "I had those,

but I sacrificed them to keep the higher King. I believe our friend Jan

mentioned that we'd all have to make some sacrifices. Well, mine was my Queens,

yours was your credits."

Wedge eyed Piggy's growing wealth. Glancing down, he eyed a card that seemed to

shimmer before his eyes. He picked it up as the image on the card morphed into a

geometric red pattern with three words inscribed in one corner. The simply said:

Hangar Bay 31.

"Now, Null-gravity Caroms," Doc pointed over to the far wall at a game booth

that drew a lively crowd. Players were rebounding round steel balls at

tremendous velocity around a domed containment field trying to get their

respective balls into a chute while trying to knock their opponents ball out of

the field. "I'll spot any of you hotshots thirty points on the first-"

"Sorry, Doc," Wedge interrupted, palming the card, "but we have a bigger game on

deck."

"Could I get you fair sentients anything else?" The blue skinned barmaid asked

as the four pilots rose from the table, leaving their winnings behind.

Piggy sketched a polite half bow. "Your hospitality has been most welcome, fair

lady. Keep the change as our thanks."

The barmaid gawked at the fairly sizeable amount of money left on the table and

nearly forgot her voice as the four walked off. "Hey, thanks," she called after

them.

The four pilots stepped out of the casino hall and into the brisk, cool

Commenorian evening. A slight breeze wafted in from the north that seemed to

invigorate those who were out and about on this side of the spaceport.

Spaceports brought in all sorts of sentients in transit, and to cater to their

needs, a wide variety of goods and services were available. Most things were

legal, but there were those that needed or wanted things that weren't as

legitimate. In was an inevitable part of interstellar commerce that seedier

enterprises existed and it was a battle the forces of law enforcement

continually fought. The cynical sentients often mused that they were in

collusion together for job security.

With the seedier services at spaceports thriving behind the scenes came the

inevitable parasite that came with it: crime.

Biggs gazed thoughtfully into the night sky at the steady stream of spacecraft

that went to and from the spaceport. "Reminds me of the nights on Tatooine, but

without the heat." His eyes settled on their rented landspeeder. He noticed a

group of humans around it.

"But with the predators," said Doc.

The group of humans were all dressed in rough clothes of locals and a few

carried one meter lengths of pipe. It became apparent to the approaching pilots

that this motley assortment of young men weren't up to any good.

"Ah, you must be the welcoming committee then," Piggy pointed at the leader. "I

take it you're the hospitality chairman? I bet you're just here to offer us a

guided tour?"

The leader, a youngish looking rake of a man with close-cropped blonde hair and

a pocked complexion, crossed his arms at their approach. "Oh, this is your

landspeeder?"

"You're lucky," another said pointing at it with his pipe.

"Yeah, someone tried to steal this fine machine." The leader leaned closer as

the pilots approached. He stabbed a finger at Wedge. "But we stopped 'em. I

figure you owe us, huh?" One of the thugs circled around the back of Piggy,

another got in his face. The group, which was seven, all told, fanned out,

except the leader, who remained leaning up against the 'speeder.

"Say, I've never seen a Hutt with a beard?" The one behind Piggy said in a

not-too-intelligent sounding lisp. The thug in front of Piggy leaned forward as

if inspecting the large man.

"Is that right?" Piggy turned his head to the right ever so slightly, looking

behind him. "Ever see one with knees?" Piggy sprang into action by grabbing the

thug in front of him by the jacket and driving a knee sharply into the

unsuspecting man's groin. As fast as he acted he threw the doubled over thug

behind him and bowled over his friend behind him.

The other pilots sprang into action, catching the thugs off guard. As Wedge

slammed a right cross into one a thug's face that sported a shock of blonde hair

on the top of an otherwise shaved head, he realized that this group must've been

a bunch of amateurs. Pros would have drawn better weapons than pipes.

Doc fought with speed and grace befitting a warrior of the Twi'lek homeworld of

Ryloth. Her movements carried a fluidity that the unfortunate thugs found

devastating. A sweeping roundhouse kick leveled one attacker, who, upon waking

would discover that he would need massive dental work.

Biggs calmly smacked an attacker's ears with open hands, sending the thug to his

knees. Another managed to land a fairly solid punch to his ribs but Biggs was

quicker. He held onto his attacker's fist and flung him around. He swept a leg

out and the man went sprawling.

He looked over in time to see Doc knee the leader in the abdomen. The thug bent

over double and Doc finished him off with a punch that was so hard, his teeth

went flying and his head slammed into the landspeeder's body with a resounding

thud.

"Watch it Doc, that landspeeder's rented!"

Doc gave him a good-natured smile. "Oops."

The leader looked around from a sitting position on the ground. Passerby's

walked around the area without much thought. Security was no where to be seen

either. Slowly, he reached into his jacket and began pulling out a pistol.

"If you start it, pal, we'll finish it!"

The thug looked up at four blasters aimed at him from all around him. Wedge

motioned at the gun. "Didn't you hear me poodoo brains? Drop it, real easy onto

the deck, now!"

Reluctantly, the thug did and began crawling away.

Biggs slapped Piggy on the back. "Good show, big man. I never thought you could

move that fast."

"Really, I'm impressed."

"Thank you, Doc." He offered her his arm as she climbed into the 'speeder.

"Don't forget, good sir Biggs, that Bestine is a higher gravity world than most.

To me, I feel like I'm light on my feet and faster than a shoalskimmer."

Wedge ran his hand over the dent in the 'speeder. Drops of blood were splattered

around it. Shaking his head, he hopped into the driver's seat. The others were

all settled in as he advanced the throttle forward. "I'm just glad that was the

welcoming committee. I'd hate to see what the local criminals are like."

--------------------------------------------

Their destination only took a few minutes to reach. A bland looking warehouse

that could've been stamped from any number of manufacturers on hundreds of

worlds was where they stopped. It was connected to a landing bay indicating that

this was the part of the Commenor spaceport that handled the incoming and

outgoing freight. Most of the activity for the day was winding down and this

area was largely deserted. A security patrol on speeder bikes cruised by without

a second glance at the four pilots hopping out of their vehicle.

Piggy brushed his jacket sleeves off, looking around. "You see anyone?"

Wedge craned his neck all around, not seeing anyone either. He saw Biggs trying

to open one of the warehouse's doors. He didn't notice one of the side doors

slowly swinging open. "Not yet, but.."

"Stop right there!" A blaster pointed from the darkness as a woman stepped from

the opening. Biggs reached for his blaster.

"Hold it, Biggs." Wedge stayed the older man, placing his hand over Biggs'

emerging blaster. Standing before them was an auburn haired human female with a

fair complexion and hazel eyes. She wore protective armor over shoulders that

only left her arms and abdomen unprotected. What made her especially striking

were the reverse "S" shaped tattoos framing the corners of her eyes. The matched

the color of her hair.

"You're late."

Wedge nodded. "Uh huh, 'anywhere from two to five minutes late.' We sure are

sorry."

"Well, if you know the password, you must be Antilles." She stepped forward,

offering her hand after she holstered her weapon. "Guess my override tap into

your card's flux field was successful. I'll be glad to get this cargo off my

hands."

Wedge nodded. "We'll be happy to take it, Miss.."

"Dantels. Captain Dantels." They all entered into the warehouse. "Though I have

to admit, I will be a little sorry to lose the little guys." They walked the

short distance into the docking bay where a nondescript looking Pliant-class

freighter sat. It kind of reminded Wedge of a closed fist with the wrist area

being the drive section.

They followed Captain Dantels on board her ship. She brought them around to her

main hold where fourteen astromech droids stood together, immobilized by

restraining bolts. As they approached they all began to hoot and chirp, rocking

from side to side in anticipation. Dantels turned to the group, smiling. "You

kind of get used to that noise after awhile."

Wedge scratched his chin thoughtfully. "These are just what we need, Captain.

They're worth the wait, believe me."

"Well, I apologize for any delays. I nearly got tagged when Imperial

Intelligence cracked the Alliance underground on Averam. I got my people out but

we lost a lot of cargo. Better luck this time, though."

Piggy knelt on one knee and ran a beefy hand over the smooth dome of one of the

R2 units. He looked up at Doc, who was also examining the droids. "We can really

use these R2 units to get some of the X-wings fitted out correctly instead of

relying on those unreliable R5 units. What do you think, Doc?"

"My doctorate's in political science, not astromech droids, Piggy." She smiled

and patted one on its domed head. "But as near as I can tell, once we get these

restraining bolts off of them, they'll work fine."

Wedge nodded at Dantels. "Everything seems to be in order here. I guess we had

better get going." He started for the ship's boarding ramp, the others in tow.

Dantels trailed after them as they exited the freighter. The small group exited

the ship and went outside to their parked speeder. Wedge turn to the freighter

captain. "We're parked in Bay 17. Let's rendezvous in say, half an hour?"

Dantels nodded in agreement, her eyes ever alert and scanning the area. "Sure,

I'll go first. Just lock on the Starduster's exit vector. What's are final

destination?"

Biggs stepped over to the freighter captain and took her hand. Giving it a soft

pat with his other hand he said, "It'll be a few jumps, fair lady. We'll feed

them to you as we go along." He flashed her his winning smile.

She smiled back, pulling her hand free. She gave Biggs' cheek a good-natured

pinch. "Right, the less I know, the less the Empire's torture droids can squeeze

out of me if things go bad."

"That's it. You sound like you've been at this awhile."

"Oh, only a couple of lifetimes."

"I'd like to hear about it sometime." Biggs sketched a small bow.

"We'll see, flyboy."

"Come on, hotshot, time to go." Piggy called from where they other pilots waited

in the landspeeder. Biggs jumped in and gave a wave as they sped off. Dantels

shook her head and went back into the warehouse.

The group of freedom fighters failed to notice the small wand shaped probe

snaking around the corner from where they stood. On a small screen, the last few

minutes of conversation were replayed in full audio and video. The stormtrooper

holding the data unit snapped it off. The unit was stowed away quickly and

efficiently. The trooper's commander stepped forward and spoke something into

his helmet's comlink. Off to the side, the thug from the fight with the pilots

stood impatiently.

"I knew they were traitors! You'll pay me for this, right?"

The stormtrooper commander turned to the thug, who shied away from the lifeless

stare. "You'll get your money, don't worry." He turned away as his private

channel signaled him in his helmet. He clucked his tongue. The noise switched

him automatically over to the secure channel. "This is TK654A Lead, over."

From his headset, an imperious voice issued forth. "TK654A Lead, this is Folor

Base. We confirm ship's registry in docking bay 34 as the Starduster. It is on

our watch list as a suspected smuggler. Good work, we'll take it from here."

--------------------------------------------

Wedge adjusted his scanners passive display to whittle out the extraneous

traffic. He and the other pilots were flying in tight formation, their

transponders hooked directly in to Wedge's X-wing so as to give one signature to

all but the most direct scrutiny.

Finding his target, he achieved a lock and fed it into his targeting display.

His R2 unit fed the data automatically to the other three fighters. Once that

was completed, Wedge recalibrated his scanners to take in the surrounding

traffic.

Commenor was a trade hub that was vibrant and thriving. Due to its

self-sufficient economic strength, it was able to remain independent of Imperial

control. Many questioned how long it could stay that way.

Wedge marveled at the sheer amount of incoming and outgoing traffic. "I've got

the freighter." He switched over to a discreet frequency he received from the

briefing they received before leaving the Alliance base. "Red Two to Starduster.

Join formation, Captain. We'll make the jump to hyperspace once we've cleared

the largest moon, Folor."

Captain Dantels maneuvered her freighter in next to the four X-wings. "Roger

that, Red Two." Dantels saw an amber light begin to flash on her sensor board.

She punched up her tactical display. "Wait, cancel that! It won't be as easy as

we thought, Antilles. TIE fighters, coming in from the moon. The Imps must have

a base on Folor. I knew I had a bad feeling about this!"

Wedge looked off to port. His threat display had gone off the same time Dantels

piped in about the incoming TIEs. Sure enough, there was a full squadron of TIE

fighters incoming in four flights of three. There was no mistaking their

intercept. "Biggs, you and I'll vape those eyeballs. Porkins, you and Doc cover

the freighter." He reached up and toggled his s-foils into attack position. He

evened out his shields and switched his lasers over to tandem firing.

Wedge kicked his fighter up onto its port s-foil and whipped around to go head

on with the incoming TIE fighters. He noted Biggs had stayed on his starboard

wing.

"The two of us will vape twelve eyeballs? Thanks for the vote of confidence,

Wedge!"

"I've got faith Biggs." Wedge held down the trigger and let loose a volley of

red death at the first TIE. Not even waiting for the results, he tracked his

aiming recticle to the right and fired away at the first TIE's wingman. His R2

confirmed two kills. "That and a little luck."

Biggs fired a quad burst at the remaining TIE in the lead formation. Three of

the four beams cored the fighter, its hull expanded rapidly as it's Ion engines

exploded. "Luck?" He raced past the debris and hung on his starboard s-foil. He

pulled back on his stick until he was inverted. He swept down on two more of the

TIE's from behind. The TIE's must have seen him coming and had slowed down.

Biggs frowned as he raced past the two and into their sights. "I never heard of

that word." He killed all thrust and pulled back hard on his stick. As his speed

dropped he kicked the throttle of his bottom two engines to full. In those few

seconds, the TIE's fired. Their shots were wild as he pulled the sudden

maneuver. Biggs hung inverted and fired one burst at each fighter. Both were

reduced to floating debris. "I believe in skill."

As expertly as Wedge and Biggs dispatched six of the TIEs, the remaining six had

passed them by and were all over the freighter and remaining X-wings. Having to

make sure the freighter lived posed problems of its own for the escorting

fighters. TIE fighter pilots were trained well in separating escorts from their

main target. As such, Piggy and Doc were acting defensively and their shields

were taking a beating.

"Hey hotshots, we could use a little help here." Piggy climbed up hard as two

TIE's followed in close pursuit.

Doc answered first. "I'll scratch your back, Porkins, if you'll scratch mine."

She dove straight at Piggy's fighter, two TIE's of her own in trail.

"It's a deal, Doc." He pushed his fighter's nose down slightly as he headed

straight at Doc's X-wing. He opened fire as he passed underneath her fighter;

she did the same. Four more TIE fighters ceased to exist. "How's that?"

"Feels great, Jek! But let's get back to the Starduster." She looped around and

dove at the two remaining TIEs that were bearing down on the freighter. She saw

a hatch on the topside of the freighter slide away and a pop-up turret emerge.

"Don't worry much about me," Dantels said. Her laser battery shredded the

surprised TIE pilots. "In this business a girl learns how to punch some 'eyes'

when she needs to."

One of the TIE's solar arrays that Dantels destroyed spun off wildly and

impacted Doc's topside port engines, her shields buckling under the force. Her

status board lit up red showing multiple systems failure.

Wedge pulled up along side her. "Doc, you okay?"

"I am." She killed the alarm klaxon horn and reset her status board. Her R2 unit

forwarded its estimates for repair. "But my deflector shield generator and

hyperdrive are out. No way I can handle those repairs on my own."

"Roger that." Wedge thought quickly. "Pressurize your suit and we'll get you

aboard the Starduster."

"That'll take time, Wedge." She looked off to port. Two full squadrons of TIE

fighters were inbound from the moon of Folor. They were bearing down on them

very fast. "And we're fresh out of that, I'm afraid."

Doc rolled her fighter up on its port s-foil, shunting all power to thrust, and

headed straight for the incoming group of enemy fighters. "Make the jump, Wedge.

Get out of here while you can. Those droids have got to get back to where

they're needed."

Wedge punched his thigh in frustration as he watched Doc rocket off towards the

incoming TIE formations. "Join formation, Doc. That's an order!"

"Remember what Porkins said? Sometimes you have to sacrifice something to win

the hand?" Doc cut the radio off. She couldn't bear to hear the pain in her

comrade's voice. She knew hers was the only true path a warrior should take. Doc

also knew that she would be avenged. She flew on directly at her enemies.

"What'll we do, Wedge?"

"Biggs, we have to go. But I promise we'll be back! Prepare to jump to

lightspeed on my mark." The three remaining X-wing pilots and Captain Dantels

watched as the TIE fighters opened fire on the rapidly approaching lone X-wing

fighter. The speed at which it traveled made it tough to hit head on. Before

they knew it, it was upon them.

The TIE fighters were travelling in a tight formation and when the X-wing rammed

the lead fighter, the resulting explosion took out half of the squadron, even as

they tried to evade. A huge fireball rapidly expanded causing the remaining

X-wing pilots to shield their eyes.

Wedge choked back on the growing lump in his throat. "Jump now!"

The three remaining X-wings and the small freighter leapt into hyperspace,

leaving the Commenor system behind. They also left behind the memory of a friend

who sacrificed herself so that they may live.