Leia Organa sat silently before the huge display screen on which Yavin and its moons
were displayed. A large red dot moved steadily toward the fourth of those
satellites.
Dodonna and several other field commanders of the Alliance stood behind her, their
eyes also intent on the screen. Tiny green flecks began to appear around the fourth
moon, to coalesce into the small clouds like hovering
emerald gnats.
Dodonna put a hand on her shoulder. It was comforting. "The red represents the
progress of the Imperial battle station as it moves deeper into Yavin's system."
"Our ships are all away," a Commander behind him declared.
A single man stood alone in the cylindrical hold, secured to the top of a rapier-
thin tower. Staring through fixed-mount electrobinoculars, he was the sole visible
representative of the vast technology buried in the green purgatory below.
Muted cries, moans, and primeval gurglings drifted up to him from the highest
treetops. Some were frightening, some less so, but none were as
indicative of power
held in check as the four
silvery starships which burst into view above the observer.
Keeping a tight
formation, they exploded through humid air to vanish in seconds into
the morning cloud cover far above. Sound-shadows rattled the trees moments later,
in a
forlorn attempt to catch up to the engines which had produced them.
Slowly assuming attack
formations combining X- and Y-wing ships, the various
fighters began to move
outward from the moon, out past the oceanic atmo
sphere of
giant Yavin, out to meet the technologic executioner.
The man who had observed the by-play between Biggs and Luke now lowered
his glare visor and adjusted his half-automatic, half-manual gunsights as he checked
the ships to either side of him.
"Blue boys," he addressed his intership pickup, "this is Blue Leader. Adjust
your selectors and check in. Approaching
target at one point three..."
Ahead, the bright
sphere of what looked like on of Yavin's moons but wasn't
began to glow with increasing
brightness. It shone with an eerie
metallic glow
utterly unlike that of any natural
satellite. As he watched the giant battle station
make its way around the rim of Yavin, Blue Leader's thoughts
traveled back over the
years. Over the uncountable injustices, the innocents taken away for interrogation
and never heard from again-the whole multitude of evils incurred by an increasingly
corrupt and
indifferent Imperial government. All those terrors and agonies were
concentrated, magnified, represented by the single bloated feat of
engineering they
were approaching now.
"This is it, boys," he said to the mike. "Blue Two, you're too far out. Close it
up, Wedge."
The young pilot Luke had encountered in the temple briefing room glanced to
starboard, then back to his instruments. He executed a slight
adjustment, frowning.
"Sorry, boss. My ranger seems to be a few points off. I'll have to go on manual."
"Check, Blue Two. Watch yourself. All ships, stand by to lock S-foils in
attack mode."
One after another, from Luke and Biggs, Wedge and the other members of Blue
assault
squadron, the replies came back. "Standing by..."
"Execute," Blue Leader commanded, when John D. and Piggy had indicated they
were in
readiness.
The double wings on the X-wing fighters split apart, like narrow seeds. Each
fighter now displayed four wings, its wing-mounted
armament and quadruple engines
now deployed for
maximum firepower and maneuverability.
Ahead, they Imperial station continued to grow. Surface features became
visible as each pilot recognized docking bays,
broadcast antennae, and other man-
made mountains and canyons.
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