Page 7 of Rogue Starfighter

“Hold on, Vesh.”

“Always.” One word. That was all. It felt like a promise. I shoved the controls forward and flew straight at a gap that was not big enough for the Wraith.

“Priya?” Gina’s voice went high. “That rock is moving.”

“I know.”

“Toward you.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you speeding up?”

“Excellent question.”

The Wraith shot into the debris field. I rolled beneath the first chunk of wreckage, clipped the edge of a mine’s detection radius, and used the explosion behind us to knock a tumbling slab of metal out of my path. The opening appeared exactly where I needed it. I flew through.

“Holy shit!” Gina shouted. “You did it. Keep going!”

I was already moving toward the second gate. Two cannons guarded the obvious approach. Their targeting beams crossed over the only stable lane. The route was a trap.

“Defense cannons locked,” Vesh warned.

“Can you jam one?”

“For three seconds.”

“I need four.”

“You have three.”

“Fine. Be difficult.”

“You selected my personality profile.”

Alisha started laughing. I grinned. “Jam the left cannon on my mark.”

“Ready.”

I flew at the right cannon. It fired. I rolled hard, felt the chair tilt beneath me, and watched white energy tear through the space where we had been. The second cannon adjusted to compensate. Exactly what I wanted.

“Now!”

Vesh jammed the left weapon. I spun the Wraith between them, fired at point-blank range, and blew the right cannon apart. Its explosion took the other one with it. The shock wave shoved us through the second gate.

“Two clear,” Vesh said. “One remaining. Enemy fighters approaching from behind.”

“How many?”

“Twelve.”

“Of course there are.”

“Thirteen,” he corrected.

“You could have lied.”

“You would know.”