Lords of the Sith Read Free

flame and burned out. The hijackers had overtaxed the transport in their escape attempt.
    “I want the shields down and the remaining two engines disabled,” Vader said. Disabling the engines would prevent another hyperspace jump. “Do
not
destroy that ship.”
    The heavier armaments of the transport had a longer range than the interceptor and V-wings’ blasters and opened up before the starfighters got within blaster range.
    “Weapons are hot, go evasive,” said the squadron leader as the transport’s automated gun turrets filled the space between the ships with green lines. The starfighter squadron veered apart, twisting and diving.
    Vader felt as much as saw the transport’s blasters. He cut left, then hard right, then dived a few degrees down, still closing on the transport. One of the V-wings to his left caught a green line. Its wing fragmented and it went spinning and flaming off into the system.
    The larger, crewed, swivel-mounted gun bubbles on either side of the transport’s midline swung around and opened fire, fat pulses of red plasma.
    “Widen your spacing,” the squadron commander said over the comm. “Spacing!”
    A burst of red plasma caught one of the V-wings squarely and vaporized it.
    “Focus your fire on the aft shields,” Vader said, his interceptor wheeling and spinning, sliding between the red and the green, until he was within range. He fired and his blasters sent twin beams of plasma into the aft shields. He angled the shot to maximize deflection. He did notwant to pierce them and damage the ship, just drain them and bring them down.
    The rest of the squadron did the same, hitting the transport from multiple angles. The transport bucked under the onslaught, the shields flaring under the energy load and visibly weakening with each shot. The entire squad overtook and passed the freighter, the green and red shots of its weapons chasing them along.
    “Maintain spacing, stay evasive, and swing around for another pass,” the squadron commander ordered. “Split squadron and come underneath.”
    The squadron’s ships peeled right and left, circling back and down, and set themselves on another intercept vector. Vader decelerated enough to fall back to the rear.
    “Bring the shields down on this pass, Commander,” he said. “I have something in mind.”
    —
    Pok had left the channel open so Cham and his crew could hear the activity aboard the hijacked freighter’s bridge—Pok barking orders, someone calling the attack vectors of the V-wings, the boom of blasterfire on shields.
    “Pok!” Cham said. “We can help!”
    “No!” Pok said. “We’re already down one engine. We can’t power up yet, and there’s a Star Destroyer somewhere behind these V-wings. There’s nothing you can do for us, Cham.” To one of his crew, Pok shouted, “Get the hyperdrive back online!”
    An explosion sent a crackle of static and a scream of feedback along the channel.
    “Shields at ten percent,” someone on Pok’s bridge called out.
    “Hyperdrive still nonoperational,” said someone else.
    Isval grabbed Cham by the arm, hard enough for it to hurt. She spoke in a low, harsh voice. “We have to help them.”
    But Cham didn’t see how they could. If he left the shelter of the rings, the V-wings or interceptors or whatever they were would pickthem up on scan, and Cham had no illusions about the ability of his helm or his ship should they be discovered.
    “No,” Cham said to the helm. “Stay put.”
    —
    Vader watched the transport go hard to port, taking an angle that would allow both of the midline weapons bubbles to fire on the approaching starfighters. As soon as they entered the transport’s range, the automated turrets and gun bubbles opened fire, filling space with beams of superheated plasma. The V-wings swooped and twisted and dodged, spiraling through the net of green and red energy.
    Vader, lingering behind, piloted his ship between the bolts, above them, below them. A third V-wing