Even at that distance, even in an atmosphere, the Falcon’s powerful quad cannons were more than a match for the light shielding of a clawcraft. She sent one tumbling toward the clouds. Another burst into a ball of flame as it seemed to simply fly into a stream of Saba’s bolts, then Leia hit a third starfighter with a series of glancing shots that forced it into an uncontrolled spin.
And finally, the two StealthXs had a clear lane down into the clouds. Jaina and Zekk dived into it, smoking and fluttering, with a dozen clawcraft hanging on their tails, but still in one piece. The meld grew warm with their gratitude; then the turret lights dimmed as the nearest clawcraft began to take a toll on the Falcon’s shields.
Han rolled again, causing even more crashing in the cabin, and the entry burn grew so intense that Leia could no longer see through the flames. She swung her cannons toward the clawcraft, then forgot about the targeting display and allowed the Force to guide her hand as she squeezed the triggers. The synthetic rumble of the fire-control computer announced one hit, then two, then one more, and suddenly she sensed no more targets.
Leia checked the display and found the thermal blossoms of a dozen dissipating explosions. Incredibly, for every starfighter she had destroyed, Saba had taken out two.
“Rodder!” Leia gasped. “Maybe I’ll be able to do that when I’m a Master.”
“Maybe?” Saba began to siss uncontrollably for some reason no one but a Barabel would ever understand. “Leia, now is no time for your jokez! This one must focuz.”
The entry burn paled as the Falcon entered the clouds, then faded away altogether as they emerged into a downpour so fierce that Leia could barely see the freight-handling mandibles at the front of the ship. The targeting display showed the eight clawcraft that had followed the defoliator wing down. They were firing at the wing-which was catching updrafts and flittering back and forth so wildly that even Saba would have had trouble hitting it. They were also shooting at an empty area behind the wing, which Leia assumed to be Alema’s StealthX. She felt no shame in wishing them good luck with the latter target.
C-3PO’s voice came over the intercom. “How helpful!” he announced. “The Chiss appear to he shooting at their own bombs. Perhaps we should withdraw.”
“They’re not just shooting at them, chipbrain,” Han said. “They’re trying to detonate them.”
“How odd,” C-3P0 replied. “Won’t they detonate on impact anyway?”
“Only if they’re armed,” Leia interjected. “And obviously they’re not. The pilots weren’t on-mark yet when their defoliator was hit.”
The fire-control computer began to designate targets in order of threat level, and Leia and Saba opened up with their quad cannons again. A trio of clawcraft erupted in flames before three of the others finally stopped attacking Alema and the wing and rolled out to come after the Falcon.
Saba switched to the Falcon’s attackers, leaving Leia to stop the other two from rupturing the parasite bombs. Her targets were clever, positioning themselves between the Falcon and the tumbling wing, so that she could not fire on them without running the risk of hitting the bombs. She looked out into the blinding rain and found one of the starfighters in the Force, then focused only on that and released all conscious control of her hand.
Leia felt the turret shudder as her quad cannons fired, then the fire-control computer announced the target’s destruction with a synthetic rumble. She reached out to the other clawcraft in the Force-and was astonished to feel the familiar presence of Jagged Fel in the pilot’s seat.
“Han,” Leia said over the intercom. “That last clawcraft, it’s Jag!”
“What? How do you…” Han caught himself. “Right-forget I asked.”
Leia could tell by Han’s tone that he was no more eager to kill Jagged Fel than she was, but they did not seem to have a lot of options. Saba was still exchanging cannon bolts with the clawcraft she had not yet killed, and they all knew that it would not be long before the squadron that had chased Jaina and Zekk into the clouds gave up their search and rushed over to help with the wing.
“I guess the shoe is on the other foot,” Han said. “What are you going to do? We’ve got to shoot him down.”
“I know,” Leia said. “But give me a hailing channel.”
“Go ahead, Princess,” Juun said.
“Jagged Fel, I’m sure you know who this is.”
“Princess Leia?” Jagged did not seem surprised. “I told them it’s impossible to hold Jedi prisoners.”
“Well, they know now.” Leia placed her finger on the triggers. “If you can eject, I suggest you do it fast.”