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Twin Suns Squadron took up position a few kilometers north of the biotics building, high enough that Yuuzhan Vong attacks fired from the ground would have to travel for several obvious seconds before reaching them. Her pilots—twelve again, ever since Pastav Rone had been released from the bacta tanks—waited.

The Wild Knights were arrayed to the east, Blackmoon Squadron to the west, and the Rogues to the south; other squadrons from the Star Destroyers overhead were arriving to fill in the broad gaps in that defensive circle.

Jaina the pilot didn’t like waiting. She shook her head and became Jaina the Jedi, to whom patience was a way of life.

But even as a Jedi she couldn’t quite shake some thought eating at her.

The fear she’d discussed with Leia was back. It was under control, but always present. With it was worry—for Jag, for Kyp, for her other pilots, for friends, even for Cappie.

She felt it cleanly now. It had, she supposed, been with her since her return from Hapes, but she’d built up an insulating layer around her and kept it distant, muted. Now the insulation was gone.

And, oddly, she didn’t mind the fear. Where she’d been for the last few weeks, she hadn’t been quite alive, completely present. Now she was. The worry, the fear, the pain they brought her, told her she was among the living, among her kind, part of everything she cared about. They might be counted as negative emotions, but now she found them welcome reminders of who she was and of the importance of what she had to do.

That thought stopped her. In a way, it was so like what she’d heard from and about the Yuuzhan Vong, whose desire for physical pain seemed so alien. All of a sudden, she almost understood it. Their pain was evidence of their life.

“All right,” she told herself. “I’m going to give you some more evidence.”

Her comm board clicked with the voice of the chief controller. “Coralskippers now reaching geosync point. Squadrons from Lusankya and Rebel Dream engaging.”

Jaina’s fingers twitched. She needed to be where the fighting was. She was Jaina the Pilot again.

She forced herself to wait. She knew it wouldn’t be long.

“Intrusion detected in west quadrant.”

Captain Reth didn’t have to be told. Two kilometers ahead of his E-wing unit, the broad, swaying backs of two rakamats, the giant reptiles the Yuuzhan Vong used as ground-based battle vehicles and troop carriers, crested the top of the jungle canopy as they approached.

Reth keyed his comlink. “This is Blackmoon Leader. We’re on it.” He switched to squadron frequency. “Blackmoon Two to Eight, come with me; we’re going to do a couple of strafing runs and see what pops up. Nine and Ten, lay down a firebreak in their path and then spread it around to encircle them.”

His pilots clicked acknowledgments. No unnecessary talk. He liked it that way. He kicked his thrusters and began laying triple-linked laserfire down on the enemy forces.

Jaina sprayed laserfire across the foremost of the rakamats approaching her position. There were three of them, just their spiny backs visible at a distance of two and a half klicks.

Kyp’s and Jag’s laserfire joined hers. All of it was swallowed by voids on the target ahead. The same was happening with the laserfire being laid down by the other shield trios of Twin Suns Squadron against the other two rakamats. Jaina accelerated toward the enemy force, her pilots keeping pace.

“More voids than usual,” Jag said. “These rakamats are reinforced.”

They flashed over the rakamat formation; all twelve Twin Suns pilots looped around for another firing run. As they began their turn, plasma cannonfire erupted from the ground, from the rakamats and all around them. The streams were wide at first, shots meant to gauge distance, but rapidly closed on their targets.

“They have coralskippers at ground level,” Piggy said, unnecessarily. “Using the jungle canopy to soak up our damage and make their precise locations uncertain.”

Jaina stood her X-wing on its starboard S-foils and veered from her course just in time to elude a