Star Wars: X-Wing 01: Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole

Author:Michael A. Stackpole
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction.Star Wars
ISBN: 9780553568011
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1996-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

26

Corran’s X-wing came out of hyperspace in the shadow of the Emancipator. The Imperial Star Destroyer’s daggerlike profile stabbed deeply into the image of the world he knew only as Blackmoon. Beyond the Emancipator he saw the Eridain and two modified bulk cruisers. The Mon Valle was home to Salm’s Defender Wing while the Corulag was the launching platform for the eight assault shuttles that would ferry down the Rebel ground troops.

The Emancipator remained in position to safeguard the fleet’s exit vector from the system. While none of the briefings had supplied Corran the name of the system and world, he did know jumping out would be difficult. General Kre’fey, in giving them a final briefing, had emphasized the need for security concerning the operation and had promised that while they did not know the name of the world at which they were going to fight, future generations would, and would laud them for having been there.

At the time Corran had thought Kre’fey had enough confidence to take the world by himself, but that failed to banish the bad feelings he had about the mission. The briefings had all been longer on morale building than they had on facts. While the simulator runs had let everyone get comfortable with their roles in the assault, something just felt wrong as far as Corran was concerned.

Keep your eyes open and fly your best—that’s all you can do right now. Whistler brought up Corran’s tactical screen. “Rogue Leader, I have no enemy ships on scan, but the base does have a shield up.”

“Thanks, Nine. Rogues, form up to escort Defender Wing.” Wedge’s voice came cleanly through the speakers in Corran’s helmet. “Fly high side on the Emancipator.”

Corran pulled back on his stick and kicked the X-wing over in a lazy roll that brought him up above the Star Destroyer. All at once the capital ship started pulsing out salvo after salvo of turbolaser and ion cannon shots. Red bolts would merge into sheets of energy burning down through the atmosphere to slam into the Imperial base’s shielding. The bloody-red color would soak down into the shield, obscuring the installation beneath it.

As it faded to pink, a cerulean blanket of ion cannon energy would drop over it. The blue fire fragmented and sizzled over the energy dome with hundreds of lightninglike tendrils. Some of them bled off the dome and buildings outside its sanctuary exploded and melted. The surrounding jungle began to burn, ringing the base with fire. Makes for a perfect target, though the fire will make flying tough down there.

“Whistler, get me a general track on air currents groundside. Also monitor the size of the shield. When it shrinks, it’s coming down.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.