Hit by beam fringes

The Death Star fired again, and the superlaser beam curved around, bent even more severely in the deep gravity well; but this time the gunner had compensated. The blurred fringes of the beam actually struck the Sun Crusher and knocked it spinning out of control.

Any other ship would have been vaporized instantly, but the quantum armor plating protected the superweapon—just barely.

Kyp’s propulsion systems were obviously damaged. The Sun Crusher struggled along on a tangential course, attempting to pull away from the event horizon. But it was too close, and gravity was too strong. It spiraled in a tight orbit, sinking deeper and deeper.

***

Champions of the Force Chapter 39