'Good kill, Five,' Thor said into the comm. One more Obsidian TIE to go.<br/><br/>He pulled in next to Six as he moved on the last one. No doubt, Five was turning to catch the TIE in a pincer action after vaping her own target. Pulling up his sensor board's display, he checked on the rest of the battle. Polearm had whittled the main TIE formation down with no more losses on its part--an admirable feat considering the massive discrepancy in numbers. Nova had still suffered a few casualties, but no deaths. Two of the B-wings had been forced to retreat back to<span style="font-style: italic">Rebel Yell</span>due to damage from enemy TIEs and the<span style="font-style: italic">Acclamators</span>. The Mon Cal Cruiser had suffered zero damage. This battle was already won. It was simply a matter of mopping up.<br/><br/>'Attention all Maw Fleet units,' declared a nervous voice on an open channel, 'this is<span style="font-style: italic">Rapier</span>, retreat! I say again, fall back and dock, we are retreating!'<br/><br/>'Say again,<span style="font-style: italic">Rapier</span>,' growled the last Obsidian TIE pilot. 'Couldn't hear you.'<br/><br/>'Twelve, this is Obsidian Lead,' said another voice, that of the pilot who had ejected earlier, 'Pull back. We've lost this fight.'<br/><br/>The only response was the sound of static--probably just the pilot rubbing his gloves on the mic to feign ignorance.<br/><br/>Captain Tengmar's voice sounded on the Alliance frequency. '<span style="font-style: italic">Rebel Yell</span>to all Alliance units, enemy is retreating. We're flagging them as noncombatants. Do not engage, I say again, do not engage retreating forces.'<br/><br/>Thor bit back a curse as he saw Two, Three, and Four still beset by a pair of enemy Interceptors. 'Rogue Leader here, we've still got some hostile TIEs in the area.'<br/><br/>'I copy, Rogue Leader. You're cleared to engage them and only them. Nova, Polearm, Rogues, disengage when you can and return to base. Mission successful.'<br/><br/>Closing the comm, Thor pitched his craft down and dove towards the last Obsidian Interceptor. As the distance counter ticked down, he switched to torpedoes. The brackets glowed yellow--missile lock. He fired, and the squint, as expected, tried to dodge...only to fly right into Five and Six's fields of fire.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_____</div><br/><br/>Rogue Two wove and dodged, frantically attempting to throw off the Interceptor on his tail. If he could just pull in close enough to the cruiser for its gun crews to get a clean shot, he would be golden. The other Rogues were too far to assist him, Three, and Four, and for now, they were alone. He cut power to his cannons and diverted it all into rear shields and engines, pushing his damaged fighter just a little more as it accelerated. Even so, his droid beeped in alarm as green laser bolts flickered against his shields, causing the gauge to fluctuate as shield power flowed in, only to be consumed an instant later. What was it about Daala's boys that made them so stubborn, he wondered. Why couldn't these nerf herders just retreat like proper, disciplined Imperials?<br/><br/>'Come on, baby, come on,' he muttered, pulling off every trick and maneuver he knew just to stay alive a little longer. The distance counter ticked. The cruiser's point defense crews tracked their turrets as he closed in.<br/><br/>And suddenly his shields gave, the lasers tearing into his rear hull plating. His damage displays were a mess of warnings and error messages. He smelled smoke and fried electronics. Miraculously, he survived long enough to reach<span style="font-style: italic">Rebel Yell's</span>safety net, the point defense turrets opening fire in unison. The Interceptor exploded behind him, caught by dozens of guns all firing at once. Blenner breathed a sigh of relief.<br/><br/>'Spark, do I still have maneuvering?'<br/><br/>The droid trilled, its pitch quickly moving from high to low. An astromech's approximation of a weary sigh, perhaps.<br/><br/>Good. At lest he still had something. He turned his craft and coasted in towards the safety of the open hangar bay. 'Three, Four, I'm pulling out. This bird's on its last legs.'