Star Wars_ X-Wing 04_ The Bacta War - Michael A. Stackpole [79]
Part of Wedge didn’t want to care because the raid was meant to make Isard pay for Halanit’s destruction. That raid had been collateral damage through and through, but murdering Thyferrans, Vratix, and assorted resident alien workers would hardly make Isard atone for what she had done. The only pain she would feel would be the loss of bacta and her ability to produce it. To her, those we kill are reason enough for continuing her predations, whereas those innocents she kills are just punishment for our misdeeds.
Another part of Wedge wanted to abort the Twi’leks’ run on the valley. The damage done had been rather ample. The Deathseeds would only be able to strafe the ground, sowing more terror in the populace, but probably not doing much to further cripple the refinery. What has already been done should be enough, but I know it isn’t. He keyed his comm unit. “Chir’daki, you are good to go.”
He got a double-click acknowledgment from Tal’dira, then Corran’s voice broke in. “Lead, I have multiple eyeball contacts coming up off the deck to the north.”
“I copy, Nine. Seven, you have command of the ground op. Two, Nine, and Ten, on me to deal with the intruders.” Wedge hauled back on his stick and brought the X-wing up in a loop. Rolling out to port, he saw Asyr pull up on his starboard S-foil while Corran and Ooryl joined him to the left. “How many, Nine?”
“Eight, sir.”
“I copy. Engage at will, but save your last two torpedoes.” Standing off and shooting the TIE fighters down with proton torpedoes would be the safest means of defeating them, but Wedge wanted to save some torpedoes in case they ran into a heavy ship as they tried to get away. As nearly as I can tell all of Isard’s capital ships are five hours or more distant from here, but if one shows up I want to give it a barrage that will keep it off us long enough for us to escape.
The intervention of Thyferran Home Defense Corps pilots had been anticipated. Their intelligence reports about Qretu 5 had indicated the placement of such troops on the world, though after Gavin had described burning three of them down on Halanit, there was open debate as to whether or not the THDC pilots would dare come up and fight. Eight starfighters were enough to discourage someone from bringing their own freighter into Qretu 5’s spaceport and demanding it be filled with bacta or to protect freighters going out to or coming back in from a convoy.
Isard didn’t anticipate our coming in to this place in such strength and with the intention of wreaking total havoc. Wedge linked the fire on his lasers, pairing them, and evened out his shields fore and aft. A pair of missiles from his port sizzled through the dawning sky and impaled distant specks of black. Twin stars twinkled for a moment before the sound of the explosion collided with his fighter, then Wedge was on the TIEs and firing.
Two bursts of laser fire bracketed one of the TIE fighters. The first pair of bolts liquefied one of the hexagonal solar panels, immediately pitching the fighter into a decaying flat spin. The second pair lopped off the upper half of the remaining solar panel, adding a loopy, wobbling element to the spin. The wounded TIE dropped from the sky like the asymmetrical rock it resembled and exploded on impact with the ground.
Pulling back on the stick, Wedge brought the X-wing’s nose up until it pointed away from the planet. He let the climb bleed off just a little of his speed, trading it for altitude, then he came back over the top and started back down into the fight. He selected one target and began to close, but it died in a quad burst of laser fire, so he ruddered the nose to the