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“Thanks, Gavin.” Nawara evened out his shields and pulled back up. Inverting his ship, he completed a big loop and followed the rest of squadron back into the fray. In the boiling cloud of fighters, friend and foe flashed past so quickly that it was impossible to account for everyone’s position. Nawara knew a number of the other pilots in the squadron had a “situational awareness” that was superior to his own, but he figured this battle had to be taxing even them.

And if you take long enough to line up a shot … The hiss of lasers gnawing away at his aft shield completed his thought and sent a jolt through him. “I have one on my tail. I’m going to try to shake him.”

Nawara hit the right rudder pedal, swinging the X-wing’s aft to port. He kicked the ship up onto the starboard S-foil, then pulled the stick back and curled down into a corkscrew dive. He throttled back a bit, hoping his pursuer would overshoot him, but the aft scan showed the pilot pulling a twisting roll and dive that covered more distance, keeping him in behind Nawara.

The Twi’lek punched the throttle forward and enlarged the gap between them, then broke hard to port and started to climb again. Maybe that will get rid of him.

Lasers hissing on his aft shields again told him the tactic hadn’t worked. Nawara rocked the X-wing back and forth and bounced it up and down, making it a tough target to hit, but the TIE pilot stayed with him.

I have to do something. Sweat formed on his upper lip and leaked in at the corners of his mouth, coating his tongue with the taste of copper. His lekku twitched in their fabric prisons. Maybe if I run into the Graveyard …

He started to pull up and head for the asteroids, when something behind him exploded. He glanced at his aft monitor and saw no TIE there. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure, Six.” Erisi seemed pleased with herself. “My wing would be distraught if you were hurt.”

“I owe you, Four, for the both of us.”

“Acknowledged, Six.”

Aril Nunb’s voice broke in on the comm channel. “Lambs are running.”

“Thanks, Twelve, let them go.” Wedge’s voice lacked none of its earlier vehemence. “We’ve got plenty to do here.”

Nawara brought his X-wing up and evened out the shields. Trailing Erisi back in toward the fight, he saw two or three TIEs explode. Another came shooting out of the dogfight, then barrel-rolled in on Erisi for a broadside shot at her.

“Four, break up!” Nawara snapped his fighter up on the port S-foil, then climbed. He swooped in on the eyeball, stayed with it as the pilot juked down, then hit his trigger. The first pair of laser-bolts only melted holes in the starboard solar panel, but the second hit the ball cockpit dead on. The TIE began to spin out of control, then exploded in a cloud of brilliant incandescent gas. Debris sparked off his forward shield as he flew past the outer edges of the fireball.

“Lead, Five here. The TIEs are breaking off. They’re heading for the Graveyard.”

“I copy, Five. Rogue Squadron, let them go.”

“You can’t be serious, Lead.”

“I am, Gavin.”

“But what they did—”

“Doesn’t matter right now. They’re dead and they know it. I don’t want any of us getting dead. Regroup in your flights and stand by.” A momentary squeal ended Wedge’s transmission, telling Nawara that the commander was shifting over to a different comm unit frequency.

Nawara rolled his fighter and dove down to where Pash and the other two members of Two flight were orbiting. Peering out through his cockpit canopy, he got the first good look at the remains of the convoy. If humans can bring themselves to do this to a convoy of ships hauling bacta, I am glad I’m not human.

A few of the freighters were still recognizable as such. Hull compartments had been blown open by explosions. Bacta that had geysered out through the holes had flash-frozen into monuments to the terror the ships’ crews must have felt. Fires burned deep in the hearts of several ships, consuming the last remnants of atmosphere. Pieces of other ships drifted through the area, slamming into one another, breaking up yet further to careen into other dead