Two TIE fighters followed the Y-wing, then a Headhunter. He let them go unmolested: There were insufficient handholds on the top of either models canopy. The fifth was a Y-wing-exactly what he was after.

As it rushed through the open hangar entrance, he jumped onto it and caught the R2 unit protruding from its exposed chassis tightly about the domed head.

The impact nearly tore his arms off at the shoulders, and the Y-wing dipped sharply under the unexpected weight. The droid squawked in alarm, prompting a barrel roll from the starfighter's pilot. Starkiller hung on tightly as the world turned around him.

"Tell the pilot I'm on your side!" he shouted over the roaring of the Y-wing's twin ion jet engines.

The starfighter banked to avoid the fire-blackened tower where Starkiller had dealt with the snipers, then it leveled our.

"You're not doing any damage back there, " crackled a voice from the R2's vocoder, "so I guess you really aren't an Imp. But what are you doing? Do you have a death wish or something?"

I hope not, Starkiller thought. "I need a ride. See those spires over to starboard? That's where I have to go. "

"Where the firepower's heaviest?"

"If you're not up to it, I'll find myself another ride... "

The pilot laughed. "No one's ever called Wedge Antilles a coward. Hold tight and we'll see what this wishbone can do. "

The Y-wing began to curve around the inside of the dome, dodging fire from turbolasers and TIE fighters. Starkiller braced himself with both feet and one hand gripping a manipulator extended by the R2 unit. With his free arm, he supplemented the starfighter's energy shields with one lightsaber, bouncing laser blasts up into the dome and Force-pushing ion torpedoes away.

At first it looked as though getting to the spires would be easy, but the more the number of ships under the dome increased, the harder it became to fly in a straight line.

After a tense dogfight with two TIEs flying in tandem-which ended with them colliding thanks to some deft flying from Antilles- the Y-wing rushed the spires head-on, but was driven back by fire too concentrated to fly through.

"Okay, now what?" asked Antilles as he swept them smoothly out of range.
Starkiller thought for a second. "That depends on what kind of odds you like. "

"I make my own odds. "

"Good. Go down. "

"What? We can't go down. There's..."

"There's an opportunity. The facility sits on platforms over the ocean. Find a gap in the platform and you can get under it. Then it's just a matter of finding a way hack up near the spires. See?"

"All I can see is my life flashing before my eyes. " The pilot laughed again. "But that's okay: I always skip the boring bits. Get ready-here we go!"

The Y-wing's nose suddenly dropped. The R2 unit wailed. Starkiller held on with both hands as the rooftops of the facility rushed up at him. The terrified exhilaration he felt was more intense than when he had surfed the Sulfation down onto Kamino. He was a passenger now, trusting entirely in the flying abilities of a pilot he'd never met. The chances were he'd misjudge the insertion into the infrastructure and kill both of them. But it was too late to bail now. They were committed.

The Y-wing sped down a gap between two buildings, dodging bridges and walkways. At first Starkiller saw no gap through the rapidly approaching lower levels, but then he caught a gleam of light on wave tops through a square hole. Antilles must have spied it by radar from above. It looked very small, barely enough room to fir the widely spaced twin ion engines, even on the diagonal.

"Keep an eye on that eyeball for me, will you?"

Starkiller looked behind him. A TIE fighter had their tail and fired twice, just missing their port engine. Starkiller didn't know what Antilles expected him to do about it. He couldn't let go, not with a sudden course change just seconds ahead. All he could do was hope the rear deflector shields would last long enough.

The hole rushed for them. The pilot jockeyed the Y-wing from side to side, adjusting its trim by minute degrees. Then suddenly they were through, and Starkiller was wrenched to his right by the violent delta-vee. His legs were swept out from under him, leaving him hanging by his fingertips from the R2 unit. The ion rockets roared. A mist of flash-boiled seawater sprayed him. He swung back and forth violently before the Y-wing found horizontal again and sped off, ducking and weaving around the facility's many deep-sea supports.

Behind them, the TIE fighter clipped the edge of the hole and exploded with a flash of yellow light against the surface of the sea.

Starkiller's knees touched the back of the Y-wing and gratefully took some of the pressure off his hands. It was dark under the facility, apart from the odd shaft shining down through the lower levels and a distant glimmer shining past its outer edges.

"Good flying, " he said breathlessly.

"You're still there? That's a relief. Deesix has gone quiet. I think he's in shock. "

The R2 unit made a mournful sound.

"Just hold on a minute longer, " Antilles told it, "then we'll get back to shooting bucketheads. " The Y-wing curved gracefully around a trio of heavyset columns supporting something weighty above them. "If my guess is right, and it always is, we're coming up on the spires now. All we need is a way in... "

"No need to be subtle about it, " Starkiller told him, shifting position to see more clearly over the canopy. "What about up there, near that access ladder?"

"Set. Get ready for some more g's, whoever you are!"

The Y-wing surged forward, laser cannon firing in a steady stream. Hot gas and molten metal exploded from the impact site. A new shaft of light beamed through the hole Antilles had made in the lower levels. He hit the retros and swung his starfighter in a complicated maneuver that left it rail-down and nose-up, directly under the hole. Both ion engines roared and they shot upward through what might have been a garbage chute, back into the secure facility.

They emerged in the midst of the cloning spires. Turbolaser emplacements instantly spotted them and began firing. Multiple flashes indicated hits to the Y-wing's shields. Almost immediately, Antilles grew concerned.
"I can take this heat, but not for long. Where do you want me to put you down?"

Starkiller tried to get his bearings, but he had lost them under the facility. His instincts told him that Juno was ahead, and he hoped they spoke truly.

"Keep on as you are. No need to slow down. "

"You're not going to jump again, are y-?"

Wedge Antilles's voice was swept away as Starkiller launched himself off the back of the Y-wing and into space. The side of the nearest spire rushed toward him, and he lit his lightsabers an instant before striking the glass wall. He landed in a shower of glass shards, rolled, and stood unscathed.

The Y-wing swooped back to check he was okay, and Starkiller waved his lightsaber blade in thanks. The stubby craft acknowledged him by dipping its nose, then roared away.

Chapter 21