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“Got one in mind, Seven.” Nawara’s X-wing remained straight and level as it raced in toward the TIEs.

Tycho began to wince. Head-to-head is usually a winner for us, but it burns some shields. In this environment, I’m not so sure that’s wise.

Nawara’s X-wing snap-rolled up onto the starboard stabilizer foils, then fired four dual bursts of lasers at its target. The first two missed wide, as did the TIE’s return fire, but the last two hit the TIE dead on. Two of the bolts sheered the starboard solar panel in half while the other two peeled back the flesh of the cockpit. The TIE started a crazy tumble through space, and suddenly Tycho found himself through the line of TIEs and clear to run on the Lusankya.

“Lead, Seven and Eight are going in.”

“I copy, Seven.”

Tycho rolled left to give Nawara more room, then put his ship into a weave. Coming in at the Lusankya from the front, he dropped his aiming reticle on the blackened portion of the ship’s bow. Guttering flames indicated places where the ship was leaking atmosphere. Tycho picked a particularly bright torch as his aim point. He shifted over to missiles and immediately got a keening target lock tone from his astromech. Seconds later he got a red light from his telemetry transponder.

“Double-lock for Seven. Two away.” He pulled the trigger, sending two proton torpedoes streaking on jets of blue flame at the Lusankya. From all around the larger ship other blue lights suddenly ignited and began to cruise in toward the point Tycho had targeted.

From the very beginning of their operations, Wedge and Tycho had agreed that the only way they could defeat the Lusankya was to overwhelm it with proton torpedoes and concussion missiles. The problem they had was that to do the job correctly they would require twelve or more X-wing squadrons—squadrons they didn’t have. Taking a lesson from the conquest of Coruscant, they decided that freighters equipped with launchers and missiles would give them the launching platforms they needed. By slaving the freighters’ missiles to the X-wing telemetry, they eliminated the need for target acquisition sensors on the freighters—the use of which would have immediately designated the freighters as targets for the Lusankya.

To prevent anyone from figuring out their strategy, Wedge had Booster buy launchers, munitions, and sensor units from Talon Karrde. Reluctant to buy something and not use it, Booster hooked the sensors up to the station, noting that just lighting them up would be enough to make even the Lusankya think twice about engaging the station. As their plans evolved, Booster agreed to stay behind and make the Lusankya think it had been trapped while the Rogues left the system, rendezvoused with Sair Yonka’s Freedom, and rode the rest of the way in relative comfort to Thyferra. The freighters moved on in to set up the ambush while the Freedom waited at the fringes of the system for the arrival of the Lusankya.

Tycho’s missiles exploded against the ship’s shields, but they buckled quickly enough as the rest of the missiles locked into his telemetry hit the ship. Nawara’s shots likewise raced in, sowing explosions over the ship’s surface. Other Rogues continued the assault on the ship’s starboard gun decks, destroying turbolasers, ion cannons, and concussion missile launchers. If we can kill Lusankya’s ability to strike from one side, our ships can operate with impunity.

Toward the other end of the Super Star Destroyer, Tycho saw the Alderaanian War Cruiser Valiant pour fire into the ship. The Lusankya’s tail guns exchanged shots with the Valiant, but Aril Nunb’s droid crew managed to maneuver the smaller ship so shots impacted against shields that were still strong. The Super Star Destroyer’s aft shields appeared to be holding, but the Valiant’s constant battery had to be draining energy that could have been used elsewhere to great effect.

Rolling to port and diving, Tycho sailed his fighter beneath some return fire and noticed the Lusankya had begun to strike out at the freighters.