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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2919595" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 372: Of Orders“We’re disobeying orders!” Zephyr Eight’s voice came through far too loudly in Rea’s headset, causing her to wince slightly as she did her best to weave and maneuver her X-Wing out of the line of fire of...of...an uncountable number of Coralskippers pursuing them.    Rea’s eyes darted to the side, looking out through the canopy of her X-Wing and to the oddly shaped ship next to her. It looked like...like...a small Mon Calamari cruiser almost...but not really. There was the organic design, the swept back look, but none of the seemingly random bubbles and other ‘structures’ that pocketed the giant cruisers...this was, also, much smaller. More like that of a medium sized transport. But what it was didn’t really matter just yet...and really, neither did who was piloting it.    “Would you rather be dead?” she snapped back angrily, having had enough of her Mon Calamari companion’s constant complaints. While he seemed to still be in a state of shock at the loss of one of his wingmate and the sudden hit that the Captain’s starfighter took...the destruction of the two gunships had sent the young pilot’s mind spinning every single direction except to survival.    Rea, on the other hand, was managing to keep her head. She knew that the Captain was alive, and that whoever was piloting this transport was going to need help to keep things that way...and staying in that swarm of Coralskippers with just another X-Wing was asking for death. And the Twi’lek woman was in no way prepared to just die if she didn’t have to.    As they were weaving a random, but rather effective, path back towards the Araddon and the Coralskippers continued their pursuit, Eight’s voice mumbled over the comm, “I just don’t like running.”    “You want to fight?!” Rea yelled at him after taking yet another hit to her rear shields, “Obrack, my shields are going to drop in another hit and two and this thing’s S-Foils aren’t even responding anymore! I doubt you’re in any better shape!”    There was no response over the comm system this time, and for that, Rea was thankful. It was one less thing to worry about...and there were already far too many things topping that list currently. Staying alive was chief among them, but right next to that was making sure Obrack and, now, this transport alive, too. Of course, that meant flying as fast as they could manage while just trying not to get hit by the many pursuers and hoping the other two with her would be doing the same...    Suddenly, the comm channel crackled and she heard a stern, somewhat airy voice cut in through the static, “Unidentified vessel, set your course for the Araddon and prepare to be boarded.”    It only took a short glance down at the comm system for Rea to notice that the broadcast was on the open channel, rather than any that the fleet was using exclusively. In another second, she heard a voice that sounded like it could cut down the Star Destroyer all on its own, “I’ve recovered one of your pilots and if you’ve got anymore drifting I suggest you tell me now.”    This caused an uneasy silence over the comm channel, leaving time for Rea’s attention to be directed back to actually staying alive. With a quick adjustment and sending her X-Wing down underneath the interesting looking transport, the Twi’lek managed to throw off the Coralskippers enoguh to give her a few moments before they repositioned themselves to continue firing. From the looks of things, Obrack was doing the same wild maneuvering and managing to keep himself out of the streams of red-orange fire, whlie the transport itself was moving more like an A-Wing than anything else its size.    “Our recovery crews are doing their jobs,” the airy sounding voice from the Araddon returned, this time sounding much more neutral and less aggressive...though, honestly, the voice that had responded back was the kind that could cause anyone to rethink their tone.    Rea nearly made a comment on the open comm channel about the recovery crews ‘doing their jobs’, but managed to stop herself somehow. If not for this transport, the Captain would likely be picked up or destroyed by the Vong like the escape pods from the two gunships that had been left to die without any support. What happened to the Y-Wing squadron sent after the Vong cruiser analogs was still an unknown, but Rea had a very good idea of what had happened...and was fairly sure that they wouldn’t be seeing any of those pilots ever again.    “Four, this is One,” the voice of Commodore Nok cut out her thoughts and drove her focus back into the flying, just as another red-orange blast streaked far too close past her X-Wing, “We’re heading in to give you some cover. Form up on that transport and hold tight...we’ll bring you home.”    While her mind screamed a thanks, Rea could only outwardly manage a nod. Eight, on the other hand, spoke over their squadron’s frequency, “Thank you, sir.”    There was really no need for thanks...but it felt good to hear the Mon Calamari say it since she couldn’t seem to find her voice in the wave of relief she was feeling.     Through the orange-tinted visor of her helmet, Rea caught sight of the incoming starfighters...at least...by the Force! It looked like all of the squadrons that had been back defending the Araddon! Had they dealt with the skips that were attacking the fleet...? Did it even matter?!    In another second, it didn’t.    The streams of red-orange fire from behind the three fleeing ships was suddenly answered by a wall of bright red, shooting past them and straight into the pursuing Coralskipper formation. On her sensor board, Rea could see the dots disappearing, and through the comm, she could hear the cheers of the pilots as they took out of the skips...and in another second, a good thirty starfighters, X-Wings, A-Wings, and even a few E-Wings, rocketed past them and straight into the formation of skips, laser cannons alight the entire way.    As they headed for the Araddon’s main landing bay in relative safety, Rea noticed that the turbolaser cannons of the huge Star Destroyer and the remaining ships in the fleet were suddenly pouring out bright green fire towards the Vong cruisers. Finally in range...too late to save hundreds...but maybe soon enough to save Agamar.</blockquote>

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