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“Keep firing, you two,” Han told his wife and son, adding the forward guns to the mix.

“I see it, but I don’t believe it,” Jacen said. A constellation of the expanding and deflating suns burned around the Sunulok, now, so brightly they almost couldn’t see it, and Han laughed aloud, though the coralskippers were still pounding the Falcon. The dovin basals’ grip on the Falcon suddenly relaxed, and the laser beams were lancing through the hydrogen cloud to burn clots off the Yuuzhan Vong ship itself. Targeting the cluster of dovin basals, Han launched his last spread of concussion missiles and then threw the Falcon back into drive.

He punched up Karrde’s comm channel. “Hey,” he said, “the interdictor is out of commission, but I can’t say for how long. If I were you I’d go to lightspeed.”

“That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Karrde replied. “I’m gone.”

“Keep those skips back until we hit hyperspace,” Han told Leia and Jacen.

“Can do,” Jacen called back up.

Behind them, Han was gratified to see plasma boiling from the Sunulok. A few minutes later, they’d left the Interdictor—and the rest of their enemies—light-years behind.

Jaina saw Ten shredded against an asteroid, and pressed her lips tight in anger. She hadn’t known the Twi’lek in the pilot’s seat, but he’d been part of her flight, and he’d saved her life at least twice in this fight.

What’s worse, Alinn Varth, Three-flight leader, had been dropping in to take out the coralskipper on Ten’s tail, and ended up flying straight through the burning debris as it skipped off the intervening rock. Jaina watched in horror as her leader’s X-wing vanished, haloed in inferno.

But Varth came out the other side, banking, three skips on her tail. Jaina dropped down like a bird of prey, spraying the lead skip, then launching one of her remaining three proton torps. The resulting explosion cracked two of the fighters and sent the third spinning aimlessly.

“Thanks, Twelve,” Varth gasped.

“You okay, Nine?”

“Negative. I’ve lost guns and short-range sensors.”

Gavin heard. “Fall back, Nine.”

“Colonel—”

“Fall back. That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir,” Varth said. “As ordered, sir.”

“It’s just us,” Lensi said, for once not sounding brash.

“It’ll be just me, if you don’t watch it,” Jaina replied. “You’ve got two coming down.”

“Got ’em. Thanks, Sticks.”

The weapon was huge now that they were closing on it. Maybe it’s not fully alive yet, she hoped.

Kre’fey had been as good as his word; the Ralroost and her companions had cut through the defense perimeter around the weapon that had so successfully kept Kyp’s squadron at bay, leaving the faintly glowing hulks of two Yuuzhan Vong capital ship analogs to mark the way in. Now they were setting up for the run on the gravitic weapon, and roles had reversed. This wasn’t the fabled Death Star; if the Yuuzhan Vong ship had a weak point, it was unknown to the motley forces attacking it. In Kyp’s holo, the huge iris in the center of the thing had seemed to project the gravity field, so that was number one priority, and when taking out something you didn’t understand, honking gobs of firepower was always the safest bet. The Ralroost had the guns—it was up to the starfighters to see she had a chance to use them.

There were two more large ships in the system; One had moved between Kre’fey’s flotilla and the weapon; the other was hanging back, presumably to control the ample swarms of coralskippers that were still massing against them.

“Seven,” she heard Gavin say, “break off and take lead with Eleven and Twelve.”

“Mind if I cut in?” a new voice asked.

“Wedge?” Gavin said. “You’re sure you want to do this, what with your arthritis and all? How’d you slip your nurse?”

“Told her I was going to take a steam bath,” the aging general quipped. “What’ve you got for me?”

“Good to have you, General. Gives us two full flights. Take Seven, Eleven, and Twelve. Guys, you are now designated Two-flight.”

“I copy, One Leader,” Jaina said. She could hardly believe it. She was flying with Wedge Antilles!

“Good enough,” Wedge said. “Tighten