Chapter Text
"Will you fly straight long enough for me to shoot them?" Dom grumbled through the comm.
"Try shooting straight," came the response. True to its name, Galaar threaded its way through the still-smoldering remains of a Separatist battlecruiser and the Jedi cruiser, which sacrificed itself to destroy the flagship. "Our shields are minimal, and we need to protect that shuttle."
Delta's status light winked green; he was working on keeping the ship's power balanced. Despite the years of modifications made to Corey's freighter, neither the CEC nor his aliit had designed it for the punishment that it was receiving today. "Deflectors are being angled as quickly as possible. A challenge with all the debris in here, but we'll get it done."
A smile formed through the concentration on his face.
"Sensor contact! It's a big one!" Kir seemed apprehensive.
"Friendly?"
"I don't think we're that lucky, sarge," the clone responded, his tone grim.
As if from thin air, a trio of Providence-class dreadnoughts burst from hyperspace on the vector they'd intended to use for their escape. More fighters began to swarm before them, and the shuttle started taking hits. Desperately searching for an opening, the Mandalorian's ship surged forward, closing the distance between them to only a few dozen meters. Twisting and juking through the storm of blaster fire, his board lit up red with an alert from Dom; their shields were about to break.
"Sergeant Black, I don't know what you can do, but it's vital we get our cargo back to command. We need you."
The Mandalorian acknowledged the transmission with a grunt, spiraling the ship through one of the Venator's engine housings, firing the nose gun at a pair of Tri-fighters, sending their burning hulls bouncing off of the shuttle's dorsal fin.
Hold together. Please hold. Corey urged his ship wordlessly. "Twist, you still with us?"
"A little busy, Sarge!" The reply came through gritted teeth.
"Come about to point six seven, depress twelve degrees. That should give you a big enough opening for a microjump. It's a tight squeeze, but if anyone can pull it off, you can."
"Appreciate the vote, Sarge. That's gonna put us right in the firing line of the starboard dreadnought." He sounded tense but committed.
"Don't worry, ner vod, " Corey smiled, closing his eyes. "You'll get your window." He cut the channel. "Divert power from everything except the engines to the shields. Angle for double ventral."
"Done, Sarge."
"Whatever happens, I'm proud of you all."
His eyes still closed, Corey felt the moment to roll the ship, bringing it up and over a large chunk of capital ship engine, as turbolaser fire burned through the space between them and the Separatists. The whole ship shuddered beneath them as the fire hit, but they saw the shuttle streak, winking out of view as it entered hyperspace, moments before the next volley struck, and everything went black.