Blenner yanked hard on the stick, pulling his fighter into a slovenly, painfully wide turn, his engines struggling to keep up with the Interceptors heading for Three and Four. He weighed his options. Two squints versus one incapped and one active X-wing--long odds even for a pair of Rogues. Too far for lasers, and the Interceptors would probably dodge torpedoes fired at this range, even if his tubes weren't fused shut. That didn't mean he couldn't distract them.<br/><br/>Deuce switched to torpedoes, eliciting a shrill cry of alarm from his astromech.<br/><br/>'Relax, Spark,' he said. 'Trust me on this.'<br/><br/>He wasn't stupid enough to try firing a torpedo, but the instant he put the two squints into view, he achieved a double lock tone. He silently thanked Incom for this recent addition to the X-wing's systems. Every model before the XJ7 had only been able to lock onto a single target, greatly limiting a pilot's rate of fire. The two Interceptors detected the lock, breaking off pursuit to face the new threat.<br/><br/>'Three, Four, this is Two. You're clear. Three, do you have steering? See if you can goose your rudder and set a course for the cruiser's landing bay. They should be able to tractor beam you in. And, uh, Four? If you'd be so kind as to back me up here, I'd be grateful.' Deuce's voice wavered. Nerves. Of course, he had more important concerns right now than maintaining his composure.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_________</div><br/><br/>In the distance, one of the assault ships burned, its hull shredded by the Mon Cal Cruiser's relentless fire. The second kept up its fight, even as ion and turbolaser blasts slagged hull plating and weapon placements. The<span style="font-style: italic">Acclamator's</span>tenacity was admirable, he had to admit.<br/><br/>'Brain, can you give me something to indicate damage? Something to make us a target? I need to draw those TIEs off Nova.'<br/><br/>The droid beeped a response: I CAN APPLY MY FUSION TORCH TO THE PAINT ON OUR HULL. IT WILL PRODUCE SMOKE AND INFLICT ONLY COSMETIC DAMAGE.<br/><br/>'Do it.' Thor flew his X-wing through a small cloud of TIE debris to add to the effect, wobbling his craft artificially as if the move had damaged his engines. He opened a channel on an insecure comm frequency, hoping that the TIEs would listen in. 'Rogue Leader to all units, requesting assistance against Obsidian TIEs. Damage incurred, handling is shot. Anyone available to assist?'<br/><br/>He kept the craft flying at a sluggish pace, turning in slovenly, gentle arcs to add to the ruse.<br/><br/>'Eleven, Twelve, this is Obsidian Lead, pull in and hit the X-wing.' The TIE pilot chuckled darkly over the comm. 'Looks like we'll be the first to shoot a Rogue Leader down in combat.'<br/><br/>Technically, wrong. Wedge Antilles had shot down a past Leader, Lensi, during the Battle of Centerpoint Station years before when Antilles had joined Luke Skywalker's fight against a Daala-controlled Galactic Alliance. But that was a story for another time.<br/><br/>'Let's dance, Obsidian,' Thor growled before closing the channel. The TIEs closed in on his tail. Brain trilled in alarm. Slamming the throttle back to full, Thor shot ahead and pulled his craft into a tight koiogran turn, eliciting groans of stress from the X-wing's frame. His intertial compensator could only take so much, and despite its relatively low-grav setting, Thor could still feel the g-forces pushing him to his limits. The TIEs met him head-on, blasters firing. The X-wing's shields gave way and the blasts charred and melted hull plating. Rogue Leader's targeting brackets passed over the lead Interceptor for a split second. His trigger finger flexed.<br/><br/>KILL CONFIRMED, Brain trilled. HULL INTEGRITY AT SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT. ALL WEAPONS AND SUBSYSTEMS REMAIN FUNCTIONAL.<br/><br/>Thor pulled up his rear camera view and saw that Obsidian Leader had ejected safely. The ball cockpit floated alone, its solar wing panels blasted off by Thor's laser blast. His mandibles flexed into the Kel Dor approximation of a smirk. Precision. Tycho Celchu would be proud. Rogue Leader gave one bob of his wings in respect and turned back towards the two surviving Interceptors, redirecting discretionary power to shields.