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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2915077" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 369“How the hell are they moving like that?!” the panicked voice of the Mon Calamari pilot of Zephyr Eight cried out for the third time.    Jyren grinded his teeth, looping his X-Wing around to get a pair of skips off of him while spraying off a series of somewhat random shots to try to put up at least some kind of fight...even if it was miserable, “I don’t know and I don’t care, Loro! Just stay on me and try to take them out!”    A muffled grumble returned over the comm, but it was understandable. The waves of Vong Coralskippers were overwhelming, but the majority were focusing on the two gunships that were now caught halfway between the Vong cruiser analogs and the New Republic attack force. It meant that their mission to find the Yuuzhan Vong cruiser that was most likely carrying one of their war coordinators and take it out was over...or at least, should have. The Y-Wing squadron that was with them had managed to break off just as the two waves of skips came in, and would soon be in range to at least give the Vong cruisers analogs some trouble.     Which meant it was three X-Wings and two Corellian gunships left to deal with at least forty Coralskippers. Both of the gunships were managing to pick off a skip or two here and there, but they were having more and more trouble as the minutes passed by. The Talon’s shields were out already, and two of its aft drives were down...meaning it was stranded right there likely for the rest of the fight. The other gunship, Fareera, was in slightly better shape, but was going to lose its shields in a few more moments.    The only current saving grace that was keeping the five starships up was in the positioning of the two Corellian gunships. Both of which were able to bring their main batteries that lined the sides of the cylindrical ships to bear on the other’s flank. It created a small corridor in between of extremely heavy fire that the three remaining Zephyrs in the vicinity were attempting to draw the skips into without getting shot, themselves. It was...to a point at least, working. That point being that fewer skips would come in after the X-Wings and meant that it gave the three of them more of a chance to concentrate their own fire and stay alive.     “Got one!” it was the first sound of elation to come over the comm system since their arrival in the Agamar system, and Jyren’s eyes quickly darted to his side to see Zephyr Four’s X-Wing fly through a shattering of rock and flame.    Jyren brought his X-Wing up to hers, just slightly back to cover her, and followed her in a tight turn around a series of red laser fire from the gunships, “Nice shooting, Rea.”    They were doing disturbingly well at staying alive. It was a morbid thought, but Jyren knew it was true. They’d only lost one starship when overwhelmed by a huge number of Coralskippers. Luck only went so far, and this was far beyond just luck, in his opinion.    And then, right on cue, Jyren’s eyes caught sight of a sudden burst of flame from the Talon, and a half second later, as more red-orange blasts impacted the gunship, watched as the front cone of the ship broke off. Through the Force, despite being drawn into himself, he could feel the jolt of the death of the crew. The few escape pods that he saw flying away were easily picked off.    “They’re coming!” Rea’s voice jolted Jyren back into the moment as the wave of Coralskippers shifted from the now-dead Talon to the remainder of the ships. It looked as if they broke off into two distinct groups, and as Jyren saw this, he knew they were suddenly in serious trouble.    Trying to get his shields back to full, Jyren pulled his X-Wing down and closed to the Fareera, “Fall back to the cover of the Fareera. We stay out here alone and we’re dead.”    Together, the three X-Wings banked down and to the still-shielded gunship that was suddenly pouring out even more laser fire from its flank. But then something hit Jyren. At first, he felt like it was a punch to the back...no...no, to the inside of his skull, if that made any sense. Which, to him, it didn’t. Not that thing usually did, but all of a sudden the calm he’d managed to maintain was gone in a second...flooded with...with...    [Shady!] he didn’t even mean to send the thought over the suddenly-returned link. It just...happened. He’d been so focused on everything else that the lack of the link became normal...but now that it was back and he never wanted to feel it go away again.    His entire body nearly froze up with the most elated feeling he’d experienced since the twins had been born when, over the link, the familiar ‘voice’ of Marix joined the flood of thoughts moving back and forth between them. [What in the Force have you gotten yourself into now?]    [Oh, the usual. Just a—] Jyren’s was cut off suddenly by a sudden, violent impact to his X-Wing that would have sent him face first into the console in front of him if not for the restraints. Alarms screamed at him and the consoles showed the engines were hit and both the shield generator and stabilizers were burned out...if not completely destroyed. It seemed to happen in slow motion...he could see, somehow, his X-Wing breaking apart like the Talon had moments earlier...and the yelling of both his wingmates over the comm.    But Jyren heard none of it. His hand somehow managed to find the ejection lever, and in the same second as his X-Wing broke apart in painfully hot, though short-lived, flames, the canopy shot off and seat’s small thrusters shot it up and out of the destroyed starfighter. The speed at which everything happened to him caused his vision to blur...and the small amount of oxygen his suit was now supplying him with was only going to be enough to last half an hour at most...and that was at much lower levels.    Low enough levels that, as was normal for most pilots who managed to eject from their starfighters, it was only a few short seconds before the starship-pocketed blackness of space relented to the utter black of unconsciousness.</blockquote>

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