Red Squadron: Part II




Gemi went after TIE fighters as if killing them all would bring Red Twelve back. She was clearly mad. Lavi was about to remind her this wasn’t a game when Gemi pulled a dive and prepared to make a full out attack on the base. This is where I draw the line, Lavi said to herself.

"Red Fifteen! What in the galaxy do you think you’re doing!” Lavi shouted over the commsystem. Gemi snapped out of it and pulled her fighter up out of the range of the shipyard's defense systems.

"Sorry, Red Sixteen," she sounded like herself again, in control. Red Sixteen and Fifteen entered the battle again. This time Lavi didn’t have to blast so many TIEs from her friend's tail as Gemi went after them with the spirit of a true fighter pilot.

The battle was pitiful. The Rebels had lost over half the squadron, with just as many TIE fighters gone, and the shipyard was still intact. There was a rumor that it had a weak spot, like the Death Stars, but it had never been found.

Lavi looked off to the left just in time to see Red Leader's ship explode in a fiery cloud and then dissapate into a sea of blackness. A sinking feeling suddenly washed over her.

Gemi had blown two more TIEs out of existence. She was vainly trying to ward off the enemy fighters from attacking Lairah's, Red Fourteen's, ship which floated dead in space. Lavi joined Gemi and brought down another TIE. The aera was nearly clear of enemy ships and Rebel ships. Only Fifteen, Red Ten, Red Four, Red Sixteen, and Red Fourteen ( just barely ) remained. Lairah, noticing her lifesupport failing, pushed the ejection switch.


Lavi decided it was now or never and swooped down towards the base. The fire from the ion cannons was almost nonexistent but, nevertheless, it was there. She hovered low over the base and carefully timed her shots. From somewhere behind her a series of bright green blasts erupted and Lavi lost her port engine. She fought for control, trying to stabilize the rolling X-wing. Someone of Red Squadron shot the TIE who wounded Lavi. She still fought for control, pulling up on the joystick with enough force to rip an asteroid from its indefinite cycle. Through her gloves, the joystick felt like molten lava. The view out of the front port was enough to make one sick: stars, metal, stars, metal, stars, tower. Tower! Lavi fought madly for control, hoping to miss the deadly jagged wall of metal in front of her ship by only a kilometer, now less. She reached for the ejection switch, but her head was spinning along with the galaxy. Lavi hit something else instead. Her seat did not launch, but a succession of proton torpedoes did. Oh, a lot of help that was, She thought sarcastically.

The shots must have hit some power generator or fuel storage because the moment they hit the wall of the shipyard a chain of explosions sounded and the whole place started shaking. But then, how could Lavi tell; everything was spinning.

Quickly Gemi threw a second tow line to Red Sixteen and attached it. She already had Lairah's ship on the first line. Her ship was so damaged that the ejection switch never worked. According to the readings, Lairah was still alive. Then again, Lavi's ship was half dead, so how could she tell.

A turret suddenly exploded with a violent blast that sent a shockwave through the remaining ships. More explosions followed as Gemi quickly knocked the engines up to full throttle and the group zoomed away in a hurry.

None too far out, Lavi glanced out the aft viewport. The face of the planet behind her exploded with deadly force, tossing shards of rock into space. Fragments pounded her ship and shut down the commsystem. Lavi gave the device a whack with her fist and it blinked back to life, a bit staticy, but still there.


There as no need for communication, however. She knew where they were going.

Back on Delaya, shouts and applause rose from the crowd as the sole survivors of Red Squadron were welcomed home.

Thank you for reading this trilling story! Your comments and support would be apprecated by Lavi

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