Star Wars_ X-Wing 08_ Isard's Revenge - Michael A. Stackpole [49]
In Swift Liberty’s wake came the Dreadnaught. It continued to target the Victory-class ship’s aft shields, finally collapsing them. Red-gold turbolaser blasts scored armor around the Swift Liberty’s engines, but Wedge saw no secondary explosions. Even so, that sort of pounding will eat a ship up if it continues.
But continue it won’t.
Captain Sair Yonka’s Freedom knifed its way from hyperspace and into the battle on a course that drove it beneath Direption and straight at the Dreadnaught. Yonka’s ship had come in perpendicular to Direption’s keel and raked it with shots from all its starboard guns, running from bow to stern as it passed. Heavy turbolaser batteries played shots over the Hegemony ship’s unprotected port side, burning great black pits in the ship’s white hull. Flames exploded and curled away as superheated atmosphere blew out through weakened hull plates. Ion cannons sent blue lightning skittering and leaping across the ship’s hull, with several bolts joining like ivy to grow up over the bridge. In yet more spots more laserfire burned straight through the hull. Wedge could see space through the stricken ship.
Freedom’s port gunners had no intention of being cheated of their chance to wreak havoc on the enemy. As Freedom drove forward, guns started firing on the Dreadnaught as they came into range. The sheer volume of fire filled the smaller ship’s shields with color and seemed to stop the Dreadnaught in mid-flight. Then the shields collapsed and Freedom’s precision fire started burrowing in on the Dreadnaught, right beyond the forward superstructure of the bridge. Hull plates, all twisted and half melted, flew off as secondary explosions racked the vessel. What started with fire-blackened armor became a glowing metal pit that drilled deep into the ship’s interior. Finally one huge explosion shook the ship, and all the lights in the forward section winked out.
Seconds later Wedge watched as the Dreadnaught broke into two at the point of the assault. In the cold silence of space, the bridge began to drift away from the aft, one piece twisting toward the planet and the other toward space. Fires burned at the point of the break, but quickly died as they exhausted the available oxygen.
Direption pulled its nose up and began to make a run deeper into the system. Moonshadow and Swift Liberty both fired full salvos at it and collapsed both the aft and starboard shields. Outgunned and already weakened, Direption didn’t stand a chance of escaping. Despite its troubles, it could still inflict a great deal of damage, so Freedom maneuvered into position to slag it if necessary.
Direption’s running lights blinked on and off four times in rapid succession, then stayed off. “Control, this is Rogue Leader. What is the status up there?”
“Standing by, Rogue Leader. Looks like Direption’s commander may be reasonable. New orders just flashed for you, Rogue Lead. Freedom is deploying troop carriers and assault shuttles. Head to your assigned ground targets. May the Force be with you.”
Corran nodded and punched up his target zone. “Three Flight copies, Lead. We’re on blue sector.” He switched over to the flight’s tactical frequency. “We’re clear to blue sector. Think you can stay with us, this time, Eleven?”
Asyr answered in a voice that wasn’t quite as subdued as Corran wanted to hear. “I copy, Nine. I’ll work on it.”
“Stay sharp down there. We don’t know what they have, but it could be decidedly nasty.” Corran rolled out to port and started the atmospheric insertion. He felt a slight bump as they entered Liinade III’s atmosphere and he had to keep his hand steady on the controls. Despite the more difficult flying, he felt a bit of tension flow from him. At least we can breathe this atmosphere, which makes survival here more likely than out in space.
As the X-wing broke through cloud cover he