24

WHEN THE Star Destroyer opened fire, so did the Ghost. The shields were up and running as Hera Syndulla wove her ship through the cascade of blaster bolts issued by the warship above.

Behind her, Zeb was yelling, "Er, Hera, this isn't exactly a TIE Fighter!"

"That's a bit of an understatement," Hera muttered through clenched teeth. "Just keep shooting!"

"I'm just saying, I'm not really seeing the point of this!"

"We protect the Battle Star until it can get out of here!" Hera managed to hear Chopper enter the cockpit over all the commotion. "Chopper, contact Fulcrum and give her our coordinates. We need backup!"

"Wrr-wrr!" Chopper complained.

"I don't know!" snapped Hera, not in the mood for the Astromech's typical smart-alecking. "Just do it!"

"Wrr! Wrr, wrr, wrr." Chopper started up his holoprojector.

Hera pressed a button, activating the internal com. "I need someone on the rear gun!"

"Already on it, Hera, and I've got Sabine in the turret!" Kanan called back.

"Thanks, Kanan - but don't forget to watch that shoulder!"

Kanan's barely audible sigh of annoyance somewhat brightened the ever-hectic atmosphere of a space battle. Hera switched off the internal com with a small smile, returning her entire focus on making sure neither the Ghost or the Battle Star were blown up.

Aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Vidian, Darth Vader continued to observe the action taking place below. The Corellian ship was obviously protecting the rebel freighter. That was unplanned, but not unpredicted.

Darth Vader removed from his belt a com that had been provided for him. "Captain, release the TIE Fighters. Neither of these ships must remain intact."

The captain replied immediately, his voice slightly astounded. "All of the TIE Fighters, my lord?" Star Destroyers carried precisely 72 TIE Fighters (under the circumstances that none of them had been recently rendered to interstellar debris), and releasing all of that incredible amount on two ships that were puny in comparison to the Vidian (and already under extremely heavy fire) seemed a bit excess.

"At once."

Defending the Battle Star from fixed heavy fire was impossible when Hera couldn't get close enough to the assaulting warship to inflict any damage. The Vidian's shields were up as well, and shields that went with a ship as big as that were exceedingly tough. All Hera could do was try to protect the Battle Star from losing its shields in the hopes that the freighter's hyperdrive would soon be repaired.

But as soon as the Star Destroyer detached what had to be every last TIE Fighter aboard, Hera became certain that if the hyperdrive wasn't fixed by now, then both rebel ships were going down.

"Uuhh, Hera?" Kanan said anxiously over the Ghost's internal com. "We have a problem."

"You think?!" yelled Zeb and Sabine almost simultaneously.

At first, Hera did not reply, struck silent with fear as she stared out into space, witnessing the Vidian deploy a vast wave of Imperial TIE Fighters.

Then she pulled herself together again. "Keep firing!" she shouted, then turned off the com and yelled to Chopper without taking her eyes off the perilous matter at hand. "Chopper, how's it going?!"

"Wrr-wrr!" grumbled the battered Astromech droid. "Wrrr, wrrr."

That was news that Hera really did not need to hear at the moment. According to Chopper - and the mechanical grouch could only be right - the external com signal was being scrambled. They wouldn't be able to contact or be contacted by any outside com.

Hera's eyes widened as she realized exactly what that meant.

No backup.

No reporting to the Battle Star.

And the Battle Star would not be able to report to them.

Hera would never be able to know if the other ship's hyperdrive was finally fixed - or even if it ever would be.