THE HUTT GAMBI(111)

Slowly the big ship began to swing around. Dovlis kept a sharp watch on the approaching vessels, and was relieved to see that he’d have time to fire several salvos at them. From the size of them, that ought to-His pilot gave a strangled yelp, and the Peacekeeper shuddered. Red laser fire spattered against Peacekeeper’s forward shield.

A bare second later a ship swooped by, so close to the bridge viewscreen that even Dovlis yelled and ducked. The ship, a small, battered SoroSuub freighter, executed a perfect inside loop and came back for a second run.

They’re not all phantoms! Dovlis realized. “Turn back!” he shouted.

“Fire on that ship!”

Peacekeeper began turning back again. Now Dovlis could see the smuggler fleet again, and he gasped at how close they were. Two more beat-up freighters strafed the Peacekeeper. “Target those vessels!”

the Captain ordered. “Fire!”

Mako Spince’s crew had managed to jury-rig some repairs to the Dragon Pearl, so the Hutt yacht now had partial starboard shielding, and her hull leaks had been sealed. Her sublight speeds were still impaired, but Mako was willing to risk taking her back into battle. Captain Renthal had assigned a Y-wing fighter to accompany him, and the swift, powerful little ship now cruised beside him, prepared to keep incoming off his weakened starboard side.

Scanning the tactical and sensor arrays, Mako saw that he was now in range of his target, the Imperial bulk cruiser Liquidator. The ship was still pointing its stern toward the oncoming smuggler and pirate vessels, still vulnerable to attack.

“Mako,” Blue said, “we’re within firing range.”

Mako nodded at the beautiful smuggler pilot. “Great! I’m going to let the Y-wing have first pass, then we’ll get in our licks. Instruct the gunnery crew to target his left rear deflector, right over his engine room. We want to hit him in the same place as the Y-wing.”

“Right,” Blue muttered, and relayed the order.

Mako was grateful to have that Y-wing to help cover his starboard side.

The swift, modern little fighter was not only equipped with lasers, but with proton torpedoes, which were bound to come in real handy.

He keyed his comm, spoke to the pirate gunner aboard the Y-wing.

“Mako here. You ready?” “We’re ready!” “Go for it!”

Mako watched the Y-wing on his sensors. The little ship made its run, slamming four proton torpedoes into the designated target before sheering off. “Okay, Mako,” the gunner said, circling back to join the yacht, “shields are either down or barely holding. Your turn!”

“My pleasure!”

Mako turned to Blue and gave her a nod. She increased speed to maximum (which still wasn’t very good) and headed for the Liquidator, turbolasers blasting away.

With their first blast, Mako knew the bulk cruiser’s shields were already down. The Pearl’s gunners pummeled their target repeatedly with the two remaining turbolasers, before the cumbersome Imperial vessel could turn to bring her heavy forward guns to bear.

Moments later the Imperial ship’s right flank, and the engine room beneath it, was a blown-out wreck. The Liquidator spun slowly in space, helpless, leaking atmosphere.

Captain Drea Renthal leaned forward excitedly in her command seat.

Finally!

A little action of my own! Guiding her ships throughout the battle had been challenging, but not like this. Now she was flying her own vessel, and she was going in for the kill.

Her target was another of the big bulk cruisers, the Arrestor. These ships were outdated, clumsy, and not heavily shielded enough. By comparison with Arrestor, Renthal’s Fist was a heavily armed, sleek engine of destruction.

In addition to its two twin turbolasers in top and bottom turrets her Corellian corvette had four twin laser turrets on the sides for shooting fighters, and a pair of capital-ship proton torpedo launchers in the front, beneath her bridge.

Her supply of proton torpedoes was limited, as Han had predicted.

Renthal had only four. They were extremely hard to come by.

But as she closed in on Arrestor, Renthal was determined to make every one of them count.

As she neared firing range, she spoke to her gunnery crew. “Prepare to launch torpedo one and two. Target her stern. I’d love to get a reactor overload going!”

“Yes, sir!”

Renthal smiled. She liked being called “sir.”

As Renthal’s Fist swooped by, she shouted, “Fire!”

Her ship lurched slightly, once, twice, as the proton torpedoes went streaking out in a blaze of blue fire.

The first torpedo took out the cruiser’s shields. The second bored into the hull and caused damage.

“Fire turbolasers!” Renthal ordered, coming around for another pass.