“Engines failing,” Callista answered. “My solar panel has been damaged. I think I’m leaking coolant or radiation … can’t be sure. Suggest you find an isolated bay where I can land. Evacuate it and seal down just in case something goes wrong. I’ll check the leakage and report.”
“Acknowledged, TIE bomber,” the battle director said. “We are eager to debrief you about the battle for Yavin 4.”
Callista smiled but made her voice sound ragged. “Understood.” She drifted toward the Super Star Destroyer until finally the battle director gave her instructions on where to land.
The rear bomber bay was cavernous, though the entrance seemed no more than a tiny blemish on the hull of the Knight Hammer. Callista guided her stolen ship inside and was immensely pleased to see that she had reached a hangar that held an entire squadron of TIE bombers. Apparently Admiral Daala was not planning to use this particular squadron, content to blast with her turbolasers. All personnel were evacuated from the bay because of possible hazardous leakage from Callista’s bomber.
As she landed, she found herself inside a vast unoccupied chamber filled with row upon row of TIE bombers each fully loaded with a complement of concussion missiles.
Callista’s lips curved in a hard smile. She couldn’t have hoped for better than this.
CHAPTER 55
The Falcon’s engines roared as Chewbacca sat in the copilot’s seat, grabbing the controls for liftoff. Leia strapped in, while Han Solo stood on the boarding ramp gesturing toward Kyp Durron. “If you’re coming with us, Kyp—get moving! In the Falcon at least we can provide air cover.”
Han’s heart wrenched as he watched the young Jedi who had already been through so much, who had been helpless while his companion Dorsk 81 perished from his overloaded contact with the Force. With brittle movements and a hard expression, Kyp took one last glance around the jungle and the temples, then ran to the Falcon.
“Take us up, Chewie,” Han called.
Threepio stood behind them flustered. “Oh, dear! You’re not going to ask me to operate the gunwale again, are you, sir?”
Han dropped into the pilot seat and strapped in. “I don’t know, Goldenrod. We might make a commando out of you yet.”
“Thank you, sir, but that’s not in my programming.”
Han ignored the droid and punched the accelerators. “Let’s go. We’ve got some loose ends to take care of.”
“I’ll take one of the gunwales,” Kyp said.
Han gave a nod of encouragement. “Be my guest.” Then he turned to his wife. “Feel like showing off again, Leia?”
She smiled. “As Chief of State I don’t often get the opportunity to take any direct action. If the Council were here, we’d still be having a meeting about which button to push to fire the guns.”
The Falcon roared away from the Great Temple, its white-hot sublight engines rippling thunder across the misty sky. Han followed the lines of fire through the tree canopy below and saw armored machinery moving, scout walkers plodding through the thick trees, rolling ground-assault vehicles, Juggernauts, and Flying Fortresses.
In the gunwales Kyp and Leia shot repeatedly, but they had a difficult time targeting through the tangled mesh of tree branches.
“Chewie,” Han said, pointing through the cockpit window, “see that Flying Fortress down there, just barely between the branches?” Chewbacca grunted. “Let’s drop a concussion missile on its head.”
Chewbacca launched one of the Falcon’s missiles, which burned through the treetops and exploded below. Through the dense knot of trees, Han saw only wreckage where the Flying Fortress had been a moment before. Chewbacca made a chuffing sound of Wookiee laughter.
“Company from above,” Leia shouted, her voice hollow and tinny through the gunwale corridor.
“I see ’em,” Kyp said, then both gunwales began firing. A squadron of TIE fighters soared overhead, either the remnants of Pellaeon’s forces or a new wing deployed by Daala’s Knight Hammer.
“These are targets more to my liking,” Han said, and took the initiative, charging straight at the oncoming fleet.
Chewbacca groaned in distress, and Threepio covered his optical sensors with his golden hands. But again the bluffing trick worked, and the TIE fighters scrambled out of the way, firing crazily as they split apart.
Han was disappointed to see that their usual clumsiness had improved so that the TIE fighters’ stray bolts did not destroy any of their own ships. Kyp and Leia concentrated their firepower on the lead ship; both of them cried out in excitement as it exploded on its hectic flight to escape.
Taking advantage of his new tactic, Han streaked forward with the Falcon, chasing after the fleeing TIE squadron. He wondered how long it would take them to realize he was only one opponent and they had many more laser cannons to turn against him.
Then an indiscriminate river of fire seared through the atmosphere, ripping the air apart in a screaming ionization path. A massive turbolaser bolt from orbit struck one of the TIE fighters and disintegrated it in a puff of released energy. The shockwave buffeted the Falcon, making Han and Chewbacca scramble to regain control of the ship. Han pulled the Falcon away, did a backward loop through the air, and rocketed off in the opposite direction. The remaining TIE fighters spun about, spiraling out of control. They lost their formation and whipped about in a flurry of confusion.
Another turbolaser bolt came down in the distance, igniting a portion of the jungle kilometers away.
“That’s Daala,” Han said, shaking his head in disgust. “She doesn’t even know what she’s firing at.”
Kyp climbed out of the gunwale, and the look of twisted determination on his face made Han shudder. “Admiral Daala owes both of us big time, Han.” Kyp looked away with his sharp, dark eyes. “Dorsk 81 sacrificed himself to get rid of the first Imperial fleet. We would all be safe now if it weren’t for Daala. She’s the target I want to go after.”
Threepio stood up, indignant. “But sir, that would be a highly irrational course of action. The Millennium Falcon is no conceivable match for the likes of that Super Star Destroyer.”
“You’re crazy, kid,” Han said uncertainly.
Kyp shrugged. “Just determined—and it’s worked to my advantage before.”
Chewbacca growled his reservations, but Kyp squatted beside Han. “Before I came to Yavin 4, Dorsk 81 and I sent an alarm to the New Republic fleet. Reinforcements should be on their way. I don’t know how long they’ll take, but we can’t let Daala destroy everything before they get here.”
Han thought again of how Admiral Daala had strapped him in the torture chair of her Star Destroyer Gorgon. “Whatever you say, kid,” he answered slowly. “It’s like a big sabacc game, so let’s throw all our cards on the table and hope Daala doesn’t see that we’re bluffing.”
The Falcon peeled through the outer skin of atmosphere and headed into the blackness of space where the immense planet Yavin filled most of the vicinity like a giant eye watching the battle. The Knight Hammer lorded over the tiny jungle moon, a dark city in space loaded with deadly weapons.
“Punch it, Chewie,” Han said. The Falcon soared forward, picking up speed directly toward the Knight Hammer.
Leia came down and stood beside Kyp next to Han. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I hope you have a plan,” she said.
“A plan?” Han answered, raising his eyebrows. “I’m just trying to get Daala’s attention.”
TIE fighters swirled about the front of the Super Star Destroyer, but the Falcon came in so fast they didn’t have time to scramble and acquire the new target. Han punched the comm system.
“Hello, Admiral Daala! Han Solo here, with my friend Kyp Durron. Maybe you remember us?”
Within seconds the Knight Hammer had stopped blasting the jungle moon below and targeted the Falcon instead.
“Let’s get out of here, Chewie,” Han yelled, slammed back into his seat as acceleration hurled them away from the Knight Hammer.
“That was real smart,” Leia said.
“At least we got her attention,” Han said. “Not to mention that she stopped shooting down at the Jedi academy for a few minutes.”
The forward bay doors opened on the Super Star Destroyer, and four squadrons of TIE fighters launched after the Millennium Falcon.
“I hope our shields are strong enough,” Leia said.
Daala’s TIE fighters closed in, firing repeatedly. The Falcon rocked and lurched from endless blows hammering its shields. Han uneasily looked at their power levels, and though the Falcon fled at top speed, their shields were drastically weakening—and the TIE fighters kept coming.
“Sir,” Threepio said, “by my estimate there are two hundred and eighteen TIE fighters after us, each firing with two laser cannons. That provides an anticipated shot number totaling—”
“I don’t want to know, Threepio. We’re doing our best.”
“But what I meant to say,” Threepio continued, “is that statistically we can’t possibly hope to—”
“Threepio!” Leia said, “I think we’ve figured that out for ourselves.”
Then an unexpected volley of fire came from the side, blasting through the swarm of TIE fighters and sending them into absolute confusion.
“What was that?” Han said.
Chewbacca yowled, and Kyp smiled. “It’s our reinforcements,” he said.
Admiral Ackbar’s Galactic Voyager dove into the system, flanked by four Corellian gunships. The Calamarian Star Cruiser stabbed through the clustered TIE fighters, wiping out half of them in its first pass. The Corellian gunships, more specifically designed to take out attacking starfighters, enclosed themselves in a cocoon of blaster fire as the ranks of independent gunners took on the mass of enemy ships, while a few desperate stragglers fled back toward the Knight Hammer, their twin ion engines coaxed to maximum power.
Ackbar’s voice came over the comm system. “General Solo, is that you? You look as if you could use a bit of help.”
“Admiral, are we glad to see you!” Han said.
“I suggest you come to safety aboard the Galactic Voyager,” Ackbar said.
“Oh, I think that’s a splendid idea,” Threepio said.
“We’ll do that, Admiral,” Han answered, but Leia grabbed the comm system.
“Admiral Ackbar, I’m sure you can see what’s going on down at the Jedi academy. Luke and his trainees need our help, but I don’t know if you can take on Daala’s Super Star Destroyer.”
Ackbar made an indecipherable angry sound. “I will never forgive Admiral Daala for the damage she caused my beautiful home planet.”
Kyp shook his head with an ironic smile. “Daala’s not very good at making friends, is she?”
The Falcon was welcomed into the protected landing bay of Ackbar’s Star Cruiser just as Daala opened fire on the Calamarian battleship. The four Corellian gunships continued to sweep space clean of TIE fighters, but the Knight Hammer still out-gunned their combined force.…
“The remainder of the New Republic fleet is coming to join us,” Ackbar said as Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and Kyp came to the bridge of the Galactic Voyager. Threepio found another protocol droid and was soon busily regaling him with tales of their adventures so far.
“The Empire has launched a concerted attack on all parts of the New Republic,” Ackbar continued. “General Antilles has taken his arm of the fleet to answer a desperate signal from General Madine. We believe Madine has tracked down the Hutt secret weapon—and we’ve been receiving reports of destructive Imperial attacks at strategic targets across the New Republic.”
“We have to stop them here and now,” Kyp said.
“We will,” Leia said, and looked up at Han and Ackbar. “That Super Star Destroyer is a much bigger target than we can handle, but we have enough firepower to hold our own, delay Daala’s attack until reinforcements get here. It shouldn’t be long.”
As if hearing them, Daala launched a powerful salvo of turbolaser bolts.
“Shields on full,” Ackbar said. “Drop back.”
As the Galactic Voyager and the four Corellian gunships wheeled about, increasing their distance from the Knight Hammer, an invincible wall of turbolaser fire appeared off to starboard, without warning. Ackbar’s shields were damaged, and one of the four Corellian gunships, taken completely by surprise, split apart and exploded beneath the Galactic Voyager.
Ackbar wheeled on the bridge, rocking back in dismay and confusion to see that space had filled with ships. Imperial ships.
The reinforcements had indeed arrived.
Admiral Daala’s reinforcements.
Colonel Cronus returned to Yavin 4 with twenty of his crimson Star Destroyers. The remainder of his fleet had been sent off to continue harassing the secondary list of targets, but Cronus had accomplished his primary mission.
When the Victory-class ships arrived, though, Cronus was forced to reassess the situation. Vice Admiral Pellaeon’s seventeen Star Destroyers were nowhere to be seen. Admiral Daala’s Knight Hammer hung in orbit, and she fired upon a group of Rebel battleships that should not have been in the system at all, a giant organic-looking Mon Calamari Star Cruiser and four Corellian gunships: a significant fighting force, though nothing comparable to the Super Star Destroyer alone.
Colonel Cronus smiled. With the addition of his twenty smaller Star Destroyers, they would make short work of the Rebels and leave only a few burned hulks cooling in space, where the heavy gravity of the planet Yavin would suck them down inside its swirling gas clouds.
He went through his entire chain of contemplation in only a second and immediately broadcast orders to his fleet. “All ships engage,” he said. “Let’s get rid of some more targets.”
The Victory-class battleships attacked with no forewarning and with full deadly force. They took out one of the Corellian gunships on their first pass and caused significant damage to the Calamarian Star Cruiser’s shields. But the Rebel battleship rapidly came out of its stunned hesitation, and its powerful weapons began lancing out across the Victory-class Star Destroyers.
Cronus wished he had brought his entire fleet with him, though he was certain twenty of his ships would be sufficient. He flexed his arm muscles and leaned forward.
“Attrition,” he said. “Take out the other Corellian gunships first.” He designated five of his Victory-class Star Destroyers to concentrate firepower on the remaining three smaller ships, while Cronus took the 13X and fourteen warships against the Calamarian Star Cruiser.
Daala’s Knight Hammer continued spewing turbolaser bolts through the frenzy, damaging one of Cronus’s own ships. He hissed in anger, but didn’t dare open a channel to criticize her. The Calamarian cruiser fired a storm of retaliatory bolts, while the remaining Corellian gunships spread out, launching themselves into the fray … where they were doomed.
Cronus’s head spun in the free-for-all, and he forced himself to concentrate on his primary target, while his other Star Destroyers fought their designated ships. Turbolaser fire shot fast and loose around them in space. He received a message from one of his squadrons. “A second Corellian gunship destroyed, Colonel,” the voice said. “Another crippled close to you.”
Cronus double-checked the location of the crippled gunship and recoiled in sudden alarm. The cylindrical armored craft oozed flames from a dozen fatal wounds, but its engines still blazed at full power. A few of the gunwales continued to launch bolts of energy in all directions, but the gunship itself—though only a quarter the size of the 13X—lurched forward in a last-ditch effort. It was doomed, its hull rupturing, its life-support spilling into space, its engines aflame from within … but somehow, the captain drove forward to ram Colonel Cronus’s flagship.
“Evasive action!” Cronus called. The 13X spun about its central axis and veered to the left, but the wounded Corellian gunship had already picked up speed, moving much faster than Cronus could get out of the way.
“Increase—” he shouted, and then squeezed his eyes
shut in a wordless scream as the gunship rammed the 13X from behind, crashing into the Victory’s bank of engine exhaust ports and then exploding in a fireball that turned the bridge compartment around him into a searing white void.
“Keep firing,” Ackbar shouted. “Status report.”
One of the Calamarian tactical officers reported. “Three Victory-class ships destroyed, Admiral, but only one of our Corellian gunships remains.”
The Victory-class fleet fired and fired on the Galactic Voyager, and Admiral Daala’s Knight Hammer shot at them with even greater power from the opposite side.
On the bridge, Han gripped Leia’s hand. They looked into each other’s eyes and then stared out at the overwhelming tide of battle.
Ackbar continued to hold his command together, while Kyp Durron leaned forward, his face hopeless except for a flickering core of unfocused determination.
“Shields failing, Admiral,” the Calamarian officer said. “Approximately ten seconds remaining.”
The Victory-class Star Destroyers and the Knight Hammer closed in from both sides, unrelenting in their attack.
Admiral Ackbar’s ship sat practically defenseless, without shields, in the midst of the deadly enemy fleet.
CHAPTER 56
Vice Admiral Pellaeon had no idea what had happened to him.
One moment he and his seventeen Star Destroyers were in orbit around the fourth moon of Yavin, engaged in their assault. They had encountered resistance, but nothing they couldn’t obliterate with another sortie or two.
And then they found themselves hurled across space as if a giant hand had slapped them aside.
Pellaeon had been thrown over the bridge railing to sprawl on his back atop a command station, extremely lucky that he hadn’t snapped his spine.
His crew had been tossed about like debris in a storm system. Several uniformed soldiers lay unconscious, possibly dead. Others sat blinking and bloodied. The shocked crew picked themselves up as ripples of astonishment echoed in whispered conversations, rising to a gabble of confusion and embarrassing fear.
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