Amir opened his eyes and smiled. "We're taking off, man!" he said.
As the spaceship started up, the communicator on his left wrist bracelet rang.
He answered and shouted, "Don't turn off the communicator! Look up at the sky!"
At that moment, the Traveler successfully tracked the source of the signal.
Lango and Chewbacca huddled together. Upon hearing Amir's shout, they looked up and scanned their surroundings.
Suddenly, Chewbacca jumped up and slapped Lango on the shoulder.
"Roar!"
At the edge of their vision, a spaceship the size of a sesame seed was growing larger and larger.
"Wolf! Han! Lorin!" Lango pointed in the distance and shouted.
He hadn't expected Amir to arrive on this planet yet.
At that moment, however, three TIE fighters zoomed past their heads, firing laser cannons directly at the distant spacecraft.
Everyone tensed up.
"Are you ready?" Amir shouted.
The communicator transmitted a muffled voice from inside the helmet: "Of course!"
Amir piloted the Traveler straight toward the TIE fighters. Under his control, the Traveler spun nimbly, dodging laser blasts.
"Good dodge," the Mandalorian said.
At that moment, a silver-white Razor Crest suddenly flew out from behind the mountain, where it couldn't be seen, and two heavy laser cannons fired at the side of a TIE fighter as planned.
The TIE fighter, whose defenses were already weak, turned into a fireball. It tilted, spun, and crashed, sliding dozens of meters across the yellowish-brown ground.
The remaining two TIE fighters grew alert, changed course, and scattered, flying toward positions above and to the sides.
"Three more in the northeast," the Mandalorian said.
Amir turned his gaze and saw three more TIE fighter reinforcements approaching from a distance.
Without panicking, Amir raised the Traveler, pushed the engines to full power, and locked onto the tail of the nearest ship.
He pressed the fire button, and the laser cannon grazed the TIE fighter's thrusters. The fighter shook violently and was forced to land.
By then, the Mandalorian had already engaged another TIE fighter.
Amir immediately turned around and flew in the direction Lango had signaled.
He had to hurry. He needed to pick up Lango before the Imperial reinforcements arrived. Once they were together, escaping would be their only concern.
He had to avoid combat at all costs. Here, the Imperial reinforcements were endless. If they were held up, they would certainly die.
Meanwhile, the Mandalorian chasing the TIE fighter was getting closer and closer to the enemy reinforcements. He had to change direction.
No matter how skilled a pilot he was, he couldn't outmaneuver four TIE fighters and six laser cannons.
The Mandalorian fired torpedoes forward, quickly turned the ship's bow to the side to dodge the incoming laser fire, and fled into the distance.
. . .
Amir approached Lango's position and spotted the group on the radar below.
"How many people are there?!" Amir exclaimed in shock.
With so many people, it would take about ten seconds to board the ship. If he stopped for too long, he would become the next fixed target in the enemy's locking system!
Lango responded over the communicator: "They're Gulina's people. We found them."
"I can't stay here for too long!" Amir shouted.
"Three more! Amir, what are you doing?" The Mandalorian shouted urgently. Amir was being chased by two TIE fighters while the other two and three reinforcements were heading toward him.
Although he knew stopping was dangerous, there was no time to hesitate.
Amir landed the Traveler in the open area where Lango and the others were staying. The landing alone took five seconds, and the TIE fighters were already very close.
Amir allocated seventy percent of his energy to the deflection shields.
The hatch descended, and, at the same time, two laser blasts fired at the Traveler. One hit the hull, and the other blew up a mountain peak.
"Hurry up!" Amir shouted.
The people below ducked to avoid the falling rocks from the blown-up mountain peak. They were also driven to their limits by the threat of death at that moment. Nearly twenty people boarded the ship in less than ten seconds.
This was thanks in part to the spacious hatch of the YT-series spacecraft; cargo ships' doors are never small.
"It's over!" Lango shouted to Amir after crawling through the hatch last.
"Good, hold on!" The TIE fighter circled in the sky once, adjusted its direction, and began the second round of bombardment.
"Lango, take control of the gun turret!" The Traveler's gun turret had been unmanned, so Amir had only been using the front laser cannons to attack.
Now, they could fire in all directions.
The spaceship took off, and the Traveler, which had withstood several hits from laser cannons, began to flash red. The deflection shield was about to collapse!
At that moment, a young man entered the cockpit.
"My name is Han Solo. I'm a skilled pilot. I can be your co-pilot."
Even in such an urgent situation, Amir couldn't help but turn to look at him.
"Holy cow, a hottie!"
He turned back and said, "Sit down!"
He was overwhelmed by the situation and was grateful to have someone to help.
"Alright." Han Solo sat down in the co-pilot seat, observed for a moment, and began operating the controls with ease.
The spacecraft's movements were much more agile than before. After takeoff, the TIE fighters' attacks didn't hit the Traveler once.
In fact, after Lango activated the cannon pods on the bottom of the spacecraft, the TIE fighters behind them were slowed down significantly.
"Mando, let's go!" Amir shouted.
"Copy that." Razor Crest began to ascend toward the atmosphere while simultaneously launching two torpedoes to block the TIE fighters' pursuit route.
"This ship is really impressive!" Han took control of the Traveler's ammunition compartment and fired two concussion grenades toward the rear. Large sections of the mountainside instantly shattered, sending a cloud of debris into the air and obscuring the TIE fighters' vision.
"Increase thrust! I'm ascending!" Amir shouted, gripping the control stick tightly with his right hand.
"Got it." Han's hands darted across the dozens of buttons in front of him, each action affecting the entire ship. He had to ensure that all systems remained operational.
Suddenly, the Traveler surged forward with extreme acceleration, breaking free from the atmosphere and leaving the TIE fighters far behind.
"Well done!" Amir praised him. Having a first mate was indeed helpful.
"Of course," Han smiled. "I told you I'm a great pilot."
The Traveler quickly broke through the atmosphere. Through the front window, they could see the massive Star Destroyer in the distance.
Amir turned the ship and headed toward the Razor Crest, away from the Star Destroyer.
The Mandalorian had shaken off his pursuers as well, but suddenly said, "Amir, I think I saw something."
Amir looked ahead and saw the planet where Gerita was located. A familiar cruiser revealed a corner of itself on the side of the planet.
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