Star Wars_ X-Wing 02_ Wedge's Gamble - Michael A. Stackpole [21]
Data collection from stations on the planet would eventually be collated with the traffic data and point out that the “Uglies”—to use the Corellian nickname for such rebuilt craft—were performing like X-wings in good repair. With sufficient luck this anomaly wouldn’t be noticed until after the mission was over. Corran was willing to settle for it being overlooked until they’d found Vengeance.
The X-wings swept up and around the fringes of Mrisst’s atmosphere and caught their first glimpse of Vengeance glinting in sunlight. “Whistler, what’s the ship next to Vengeance?”
The droid chittered for a moment, then displayed the answer on Corran’s secondary monitor. The ship was a medium-sized transport calling itself Contruum’s Pride. Whistler appended to his identification a criminal behavior code that Corran recognized as meaning the ships were moving in tandem, remaining steady to facilitate the transfer of cargo. This is just like spotting smugglers back with CorSec.
Before Corran could key his comm unit and let the others know Pride was in league with Vengeance, Pash Cracken’s voice filled the comm channel. “Twelve, Pride is bad.”
“How do you know that, Four?” Captain Nunb asked.
“Contruum’s my homeworld. Naming conventions for ships restrict virtues to capital ships. Transports are named for beasts of burden and rivers.”
Corran keyed his comm unit. “Four is correct, Twelve. Pride is transferring cargo to or taking it from Vengeance.”
“We have two for the taking, then. S-foils in attack position.”
Corran reached up and hit the appropriate switch. The fighter’s stabilizers split and locked into the position that gave the X-wing its name. Off to the starboard side of his ship he saw the four fighters in Two Flight move out under Cracken’s command. Corran served as Captain Nunb’s wingman, with Rhysati Ynr and Erisi Dlarit in Rogues Seven and Eight completing One Flight.
Captain Nunb’s voice filled the comm channel. “Starships Vengeance Derra IV and Contruum’s Pride, this is Captain Aril Nunb of Rogue Squadron. You have violated New Republic space. Stand down. Drop your shields. Prepare to surrender your vessels.”
Corran’s green eyes narrowed as the ships began to move apart. “Be alert, Rogues. They’re moving and the one thing we know Vengeance needs more of is TIEs.”
As if summoned by his words, a dozen TIE starfighters and interceptors boiled out of the gap between the two ships.
“They needed pilots, too, Nine.”
“Which they apparently got, Four.”
“Cut the chatter. Two Flight, take Vengeance. One Flight, we have cover.”
“As ordered, Twelve.” Corran flexed his right hand, then took firm hold on the flightstick. He thumbed his lasers over to dual-offset mode that fired them in pairs. Doing that meant each shot packed less power, but he got a faster rate of fire. In the sort of wheeling, twisting dogfight the eyeballs and squints promised, rapid fire was devoutly to be desired. “I have your wing, Twelve.”
No sooner had he said that than Nunb’s ship sideslipped to port, then dove toward the planet. Corran had no idea why she’d done that, but he followed her as best he could, remaining off her starboard stabilizer and back a bit. As he started to follow her as she pulled up and out of the dive, he saw her lasers flash and the lead eyeball exploded.
“Nice shooting, Twelve.”
Her only reply came in a snap-roll up onto her port stabilizer that she quickly reversed. The stern of her ship slid to starboard as she applied rudder, swinging the nose of her craft to port. It tracked along the course of the TIE that had taken her snap-roll feint. Nunb’s quad shot clipped the port wing on the eyeball and sent it spinning off into space.
“You have lead, Nine.”
“As ordered, Twelve.