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“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