"Saw that Defender kill, Three. Good shot. But don't get cocky. Only the best Squint pilots rate Defenders."<br/><br/>No time to chide Four about his ill-advised modifications now. He had to trust Three to take care of her wingman herself. Inverting his X-Wing, Thor pulled back on his stick, tilting his craft's nose planetward to pursue another Interceptor. Another TIE fighter screamed into view. The laser lock beeped merrily.<br/><br/>"Splash one more TIE," Rogue Leader muttered as his trigger finger flexed. Banking to port to avoid the debris, he checked the distance to the next-closest target: an Interceptor. Too far for lasers. He switched to torpedoes, spitting the TIE on his crosshairs. Yellow crosshairs--missile lock. He thumbed the stick's missile launch button and pulled away, back into the furball.<br/><br/>KILL CONFIRMED, beeped his R2 unit, nicknamed Brain.<br/><br/>"Thanks, Brain," Thor said. Laser lock warnings flickered on his display. Sideslipping to starboard, he led the enemy TIE in front of his wingman's crosshairs. At that instant, red dot blinked out of existence on his display. "Much obliged, Deuce."<br/><br/>Two comm-clicks. His wingman wasn't the chatty type, he guessed. Checking his display, he saw a new formation of red dots form on the far side of the engagement.<br/><br/>Thor tapped at his sensor board. "Brain, can you get me anything on those new sigs?"<br/><br/>Complying, the droid pulled up starship schematics on his display. TIE Bombers, with a light Interceptor escort, too far for the Rogues to effectively counter. If their bombs got to the Alliance ships, the capital ships' slugging match would be over before it even began. Thor checked his sensor board again. Uploading the new data to High Flight and Dagger Squadrons, he switched to Alliance general comms.<br/><br/>"High Flight, Dagger, be advised: we have two squadrons of dupes en route to<span style="font-style: italic">Rebel Yell</span>and<span style="font-style: italic">Corona</span>. You two squadrons are closest, requesting you break off from the fight and intercept. Rogue and Talon will handle the furball."<br/><br/>Affirmatives from the Alliance fighters signaled their assent, and immediately he saw the Alliance TIEs and E-wings make neat escapes from the fray. Returning his attention to the fight at hand, he fell in behind a flight of TIEs, locking another one in his crosshairs. Immediately, the flight group scattered, his target juking left and right to break the lock while his flightmates moved around to target him and his wingman. Thor stayed stubbornly on target. He was an A-Wing ace, and one who knew the ins and outs of rapid maneuvering better than just about anyone else in Starfighter Command. He locked his target and fired. The TIE erupted in a brilliant ball of flame, its cockpit spiraling forward into the system's sun. Two had killed another TIE, but Thor had two more pursuers on his tail. Thor cut speed and pulled up, looping over the TIEs as they shot ahead. He placed his crosshairs between the left TIE's ball cockpit and its left solar panel and fired, shearing the panel off and forcing the TIE to careen into its wingman, destroying both. Amateurs. Any TIE jockey worth his salt would have broken away for another pass or a koiogran turn.<br/><br/>He thumbed his comm. "Rogues, we've thinned enough of the herd. Finish up your dogfights and form up on the cruiser. Nova, Guardian, prepare to deploy. We'll escort you in on your attack runs."<br/><br/>A chorus of acknowledgements. He and Two turned their X-wings on their tails and sped back to the cruiser to join the B-wings and Y-wings.