-Above the Planet-

Of the 5 X-wing escorts that had accompanied the senator to Rodia, only 3 were left, 1 had been destroyed on the ground in the initial orbital strike, the pilot, a Gungun called Mak-Nog Laam, was with Serra, behind the barricades. The other was destroyed on take-off and the pilot Buddy Illam, a human, was dead. Now, it was Defenser's 2, 4 and 5 that were left. Defenser 2 had taken up position at the head of the wing as they headed for the fleet. They saw a large number of TIE Fighters headed for the surface. Any other squadron would consider this kind of attack to be suicide, but Defenser Squadron were some of the best pilots the Republic had ever known, trained for the main purpose of helping to run blockades of starships should Coruscant fall and dignitaries require escorting off-world. Their X-Wings weren't anything to be scoffed at, either. These had been fine-tuned by some of the Republics best mechanics to perform at peak efficiency. The TIE's had the numbers advantage, but the Defensers knew to force the TIE's into a 1vs1 situation where the Imperials would stand no chance.

"Defenser 2 to Defenser's 4 and 5, we've not got enough fire power to crack those Battleships, but we can ensure that they do not gain air-superiority over the capital. Aim for any fighter trying to make it to the surface. On my mark, break and attack, I'll go in and hit them hard and try to draw their escorts."

"Copy, Defenser 2" 4 and 5 replied. As they approached the great swarm of fighters, they could see that they were hopelessly outnumbered.

"Lock S-Foils in attack position." The S-Foils of the fighters opened and locked to allow a better firing arc. As they began to close to attack range, several escort squadrons broke off from the fighter swarm. Yamok began counting silently, until, suddenly, his X-Wing increased speed dramatically.

"This is it, boys. Accelerate to attack speed and break." he ordered. As he did so, the other two split from their attack wing. Marlow immediately dived upon the Bombers, with Umak choosing a wing of Lander shuttles. Thanks to their close proximity to the fighter groups, the Battleships wouldn't dare open fire upon them. They cared little for their own troops, but even they saw the folly of sacrificing hundreds of men to take out 3 fighters, when their own Interceptors would probably be able to take them. Yamok watched the Interceptors box him in with the classic Imperial Attack tunnel. Several wings of fighters swooping towards him, firing, but ultimately missing. This was an old imperial tactic to spook less experienced pilots into pulling away and straight into the line of fire. Yamok had seen this too many times and remained locked on course, before the Interceptors could turn around and commense the attack in earnest. Pulling away, he put himself right where he wanted himself, Going as fast as he was, it was highly unlikely that the Interceptors that were now coming about would be able to get a lock and destroy him as he was moving sideways across their vision and at a considerable range. They attempted to fire anyway, their weapons banks were fully stocked and they could easily afford to fire freely without care of running out.

Yamok's faint had worked, with his flashy attempt to break away first, the Interceptors had all gone after him, knowing him to be the leader. But, he'd be the first to admit that he wasn't the best in the outfit... Although, with Buddy's death on take-off, who was was now a mystery. Marlow's fighter dived upon the Bombers with only a few of the regular TIE's to intercede, but thanks to her ability to reach out and affect their minds, attempts to get weapons lock on her was proving impossible for the pilots, they couldn't think straight, they kept overcompensating for the movement of her fighter. She was in her element with only the 5 escorts, she had trouble affecting more than that amount of minds at once whilst in the cockpit.

Umak, on the other hand was keeping his distance. Gran's had 3 eyes, making their depth perception to be amazing. As such, his ability to hit targets at extreme distance was uncanny. Keeping out of effective range of the lander's defense blasters, he was able to easily shoot out the engines of 2 of them, before reinforcements arrived. But, with 2 of their loaders now plummeting towards the ground, he was able to pull back a little and try to stay out of range altogether.

With Reinforcements closing in on all of them, they were beginning to feel the strain. "Dammit, i'm hit!" came the voice of Defenser 2. "Just the tip of the wing, lost cannon 2. This isn't working. Fall back to the planets atmosphere, kiss the tarmac and mke sure they can't take you down."

"Defenser 2, you can't enter the atmosphere with your fighter in that condition. The asymmetry would make controlling that thing impossible." replied Defenser 4.

"Defenser 2, go for help, make the calculations and jump out." replied Defenser 5. The radio went dead for a few seconds, as the other 2 headed planetside.

"Understood." replied the comm. The 2 fighters headed into the atmosphere had, at the very least weakened the Empire a little bit, and with several fighters on their tails as they streaked into the atmosphere, they were drawing more fighters into a conflict that gained the Imperials nothing, but couldn't afford to be ignored.