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“Just a couple seconds more.”

“Four, break off, now!”

“I’ve almost got him, Lead.”

“You’re too close, Four. Break off immediately!”

Erisi’s X-wing fired a quad burst that caught an Interceptor on the starboard solar panel and right side of the cockpit. Something at the rear of the craft exploded, then seconds later the whole Interceptor came apart. A huge golden-red ball blossomed in front of Erisi’s X-wing, then imploded into black smoke as she flew through it.

“Report, Four.”

“I got him, Lead.”

“And got crisped. Get back here.”

Fear injected itself into her voice. “Rudder’s gone, stick’s sluggish.”

“Erisi, you’re too close to the Lusankya. Get out of there.” Wedge brought his X-wing around to the left in a long, orbiting loop. “Mynock, pull status data from her R5 unit, now.” He keyed his comm unit. “Erisi, roll and dive. Gravity is your friend.”

“As ordered. No, wait.” A wail as frightening as any Mynock had ever made shot through the comm unit. “They have a tractor beam on me. I’m at full thrust, but I can’t break loose. Help me, help me!”

Pulling back on the stick, Wedge came up and pointed the nose of his fighter at the Lusankya. The big ship hung like a sliver of ice stabbed deep into the morning sky. He thought he could see Erisi’s X-wing as a little speck against the Super Star Destroyer’s bulk, but a sheet of turbolaser fire heading back toward him eclipsed her.

Hugging the stick to his chest, Wedge brought the X-wing over the top and pointed it back toward the planet. “On me, Rogues. We’re going home.”

“But, Lead, we can’t just leave her—”

“Enough, Gavin. That’s a Super Star Destroyer. It’s impossible to stop if it doesn’t want to be stopped.”

“But impossible is—”

“I know, Rogues, I know.” Wedge glanced at his monitor and let the cold shiver running up his spine bleed into his voice. “Impossible is what Rogue Squadron does, but right now that would cost us too much for too little gain. Just because we can do the impossible doesn’t mean we always win.”

44

Corran Horn mustered a smile in response to Admiral Ackbar’s blinking expression of disbelief. “If someone is inclined to call me as a witness, I think I can shed some light on the murder charges against Captain Celchu.”

The Mon Calamari’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, then he nodded toward the prosecution table. “Perhaps, Commander Ettyk, the prosecution would like to reopen its case?”

The dark-haired prosecutor nodded. “Thank you, sir. We call Corran Horn.”

Corran limped his way up toward the front of the court. He placed his blaster carbine on the prosecution table, then turned and approached the defense table. He squatted down beside Whistler and wiped a speck of dust from his optical lens. “Thanks for guiding me in here, Whistler. Without you, I’ve been lost.”

The droid hooted softly, then opened the storage compartment in his dome. Corran reached in and pulled out his own unblemished Jedi medallion and the gold chain from which it hung. Corran fastened it around his neck, then fished the ruined medallion from his pocket and put it into the storage compartment. “Not quite a fair trade, my friend, but I’ll make it up to you.”

Coming up from his crouch, Corran looked over at Tycho. He nodded and lowered his voice into a whisper. “I owe you an apology, a huge apology, and a debt I can never repay. All this is my fault, and I’m sorry I caused you to go through it.”

“You’re wrong, Corran.” Tycho shook his head. “You were manipulated by the Empire. So was I, so was everyone here. I’ll accept your apology, but I won’t acknowledge your debt.”

“I’ll still pay it, or at least make a down payment on it.”

Tycho smiled. “Getting the murder charge removed from the indictment is a good start.”

“I can do much better. Watch me.” Corran nodded, then dropped a hand on Emtrey’s left shoulder. He bent in close to the droid’s aural sensors and kept his voice low. “Emtrey, say nothing. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.”

The droid’s head swiveled around to look at him. “Sir, I understood the