Chapter 16 - Mission to Skynara

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Playlist:

❶ "The Battle of Yavin"—A New Hope OST

❷ "Chrome Dome"—The Last Jedi OST

❸ "Snoke Revisited"—The Last Jedi OST

⊘ Silence

❶ Luke's borrowed and battered A-wing materialized from hyperspace over Skynara, directly into a dogfight between the warring factions

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❶ Luke's borrowed and battered A-wing materialized from hyperspace over Skynara, directly into a dogfight between the warring factions. One of the pilots chased a pair of battered ships straight at him, lasers blasting on repeat. The laser blasts found the straggling ship first and blew it to pieces. It closed in on the other. At the last minute, the two dived down in front of him, and Luke pulled up. The ships missed each other by a few microns, and he immediately found himself missing Artoo and his X-wing—but he couldn't risk either on this mission.

He analyzed the battle and came in on a barrel roll to join the Vestuns against the Zakhasuns, both flying antiquated Z-95 Headhunters.

Where did they dig up these old fossils? Pull them out of a museum or something?

The Z-95 snub fighter was the granddaddy of the T-65 X-wing Luke normally flew. The craft appeared similar, both with a long nose and foils mounted in the rear. However, the Z-95 was half the size, lacking in engine speed, maneuverability, and fire power.

He fired, taking out the first fighter, an ancient Z-95 Headhunter. Then both the Zakhasuns and the Vestuns strafed his craft.

Transmitting over a secure channel to the Vestuns, he said, "This is Jedi Master Luke Skywalker on a mission from the Republican Senate. I'm here to assist you, Vestuns."

The Vestuns adjusted their patterns, still firing at Luke's ship. The firing systems must have been out of calibration, as each bolt missed his ship by centimeters. The Zakhasuns surrounded Luke, until there was only one spot through which he could flee.

As he maneuvered his A-wing to escape through the opening, a Resurgent-class star destroyer came out of hyperspace directly above him, activating its tractor beam on his ship.

Realizing he had flown into a trap, Luke shut down his engines and activated his emergency distress signal. The signal would travel at sublight speed until it reached the first Republic system, but at least he was able to send it. At least someone would know where he was.

After the docking claw had towed the A-wing into the landing bay, a score of stormtroopers surrounded Luke's craft with weapons pointed at the Jedi.

Luke weighed his options, realizing he could remove their weapons with ease. However, he wanted to learn who possessed the power to set-up this elaborate trap to catch him.

When Luke opened the canopy, a stormtrooper clad peered down into the cockpit from an elevated platform, a lieutenant judging by the orange shoulder pad and drawn blaster. The metallic-filtered voice said, "Your weapons, Master Skywalker."

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