Star Wars_ X-Wing 01_ Rogue Squadron - Michael A. Stackpole [137]
Corran had earned the friendship Wedge felt for him, and not just through his skill in an X-wing. He had taken to heart the things Wedge had told him about becoming part of the unit. Corran had clearly known that to go after the Interceptors closing on an assault shuttle was to be left behind. He had made that choice because it was really no choice at all. The rest of the unit would have made the same choice, too.
And they’ll want to go back to get Corran. By jumping straight from Noquivzor to Borleias, without making a side jump first, they could reach the world in under three hours. Doing that would expose Noquivzor to discovery by Imperial forces, but Wedge expected Page’s people to be giving them other things to think about. Even so, a jump to the outer edge of the Borleias system and then another jump in closer would bring them out of hyperspace from a direction that would hide their point of origin. I hope.
A green button started blinking on the command console. Wedge punched it and hyperspace melted into the Noquivzor system. He immediately keyed his comm. “Rogue Leader to Emtrey.”
“Emtrey here, sir. I have an urgent message for Bror Jace.”
“It’s not as urgent as my orders, Emtrey. Get Zraii set up to refuel us and get techs mounting lasers on the Forbidden. An hour from now, at the most, we’re heading back out.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And contact Intelligence. I want any holonet data coming out of Borleias.”
“Yes, sir.” The droid sounded agitated. “Sir, we do have some information from Borleias.”
“You do?” Wedge’s heart started to pound inside his chest. “What is it? Is it about Corran?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Give it to me.”
“It’s a hologram.”
Wedge frowned. “Have the computer mash it to two dimensions and send it.”
“You may want to wait, sir.”
“Emtrey!”
“Transmitting now, sir, at your request.”
The monitor resolved itself into an image of Corran Horn. Wedge shook his head. What?
“If you’re seeing this, Commander Antilles,” Corran said solemnly, “I know I was left behind …”
39
Corran popped one proton torpedo off and watched the lead Interceptor evaporate. Thumbing his weapons control over to lasers, he started to track the next TIE. The tractor beam limited his ship’s range of motion, but a heavy foot on a rudder pedal started turning him in the right direction. Just a bit more …
The Interceptor exploded as red laser bolts ripped through the cockpit.
Corran looked down at his hand and couldn’t recall having hit the trigger.
More laser fire transformed another TIE into a fireball. What in the Cloak of the Sith?
Whistler started hooting frantically.
Corran hesitated, not comprehending, then flipped his comm unit back on as his fighter began to rise through the volcano, picking up speed.
“… repeat, is your hyperdrive still operational?”
He recognized the voice. “Mirax?”
“Yeah. You ready to get smuggled out of here?”
“Hyperdrive is a go.”
“Key it to my signal.”
“Whistler, do it.”
Corran didn’t afford himself the luxury of looking back at the ship that had tractored his fighter—the forward view had more than enough to entertain him. Borleias’s moon was receding quickly into the starfield, as were the squints. Green lancets of laser fire reached out toward him, but they splashed harmlessly against his shields. His return fire scattered the TIEs and one more fell prey to Skate’s gunner.
Whistler piped a warning at him, then the starfield stretched into columns and they entered hyperspace. A second or two later they came back out again at a point well below the Pyria system’s elliptic plane.
“Corran, bring your fighter around and come up into the hold.”
“Gladly, Skate” He complied with the order and found his twelve-and-a-half-meter-long fighter fit snugly in the hold. He waited for Mirax to repressurize the hold after closing the loading bay doors, then he popped his cockpit canopy open and vaulted from the X-wing.