Harry Potter and the Dark Lord of the Sith

Chapter 61.

Terry twisted his broom and rushed down to catch Hannah. "Get her!" he yelled.

Ron didn't have time to confirm whether Terry did catch her, but he thought there wasn't much of a chance that he didn't. Still, Roganda managed to reduce the odds from seven to one to five to one.

Never tell me the odds, Han once said. And the odds then were much, much bigger. Ron leaned in to resume the chase.

"What's the best broom among you?" he asked Charlie.

"A Firebolt. That's--oh."

"I was afraid of that," he said.

Roganda suddenly dropped below the treetops. Ron, tightening his grip on the handle, followed.

"Ron, what're you doing?" Ginny shouted. "No way--" Ron ignored her. Flying an obstacle course through the trees, making sure he didn't lose Roganda, took all his concentration. None of the others followed him.

He saw the flash of a lightsaber, and flew over the falling tree. "Stupefy!" he threw a spell forward, but missed.

He saw something else quickly move through the forest. A small clearing was a head, and right as Roganda flew across it, Fred and George rushed in from either side. They didn't surprise her, however. Both of their spells missed as Roganda performed another Force-enhanced leap. This time, she knocked Fred off his broom. "Ouch!" he yelled as he hit the ground.

"George, he'll be all right!" Ron shouted. Fred was moving, and chasing Roganda alone wasn't an appealing prospect. And where are Ginny and Charlie?

Roganda, now on Fred's broom, flew up again. Ron and George followed.

As they flew up, they watched Ginny and Charlie zooming in from above. "Help Fred, he's here!" George yelled.

Then Roganda ignited her lightsaber again. The next moment, Charlie tumbled off his broomstick. Roganda's blade sliced off his tail. He hit a tree branch, breaking it with his body, before plunging down. Ginny rushed to catch him.

XXXXXXX

The inside of the the Death Star was composed of narrow tunnels, dangerous to navigate even without enemy fighters chasing you. Here and there, explosions flared, signaling that bombardment from the outside was doing damage. Energy readings on her instruments were off the scale.

"Watch your backs," she suggested to her wingmates. "Put all power to your rear shields."

An Imperial fighter behind them collided with a wall and vanished. The rest kept pursuit and fire, forcing them to jink constantly. She remembered the first time she flew into combat, at Yavin. You know, it would be a good idea to have rear guns on these things...

The corridor they were flying through opened into a wider tunnel. At that moment, an X-wing and a familiar saucer-shaped craft flew by, also pursued by Imperial fighters. Hermione fired, destroying one Interceptor. Lin took out another.

Hermione had to smile. "Wedge!" she called out. "You do need me watching your back!"

"Never denied it," the other pilot replied. "You all right?"

She nodded, before realizing Wedge couldn't see her. "Good, but completely out of torps. Lin, Erad, do you have any left?"

"I've one," Loth said.

"I'm out too."

"Go with them, Erad. We'll break off, and try to draw some of these fighters away. Good luck, everyone." The energy readings were enormous, indicating the proximity of the main reactor. At a junction, she and Lin broke off into a sideways tunnel, while Wedge, Loth, and Lando plowed on ahead.

Four Imperial fighters were following them. Hermione adjusted her rear shields and weaved through the deadly maze. She and Lin were flying side by side, the wings of their fighters almost touching.

Explosions got more violent, and one of their pursuers vanished as a tongue of flame erupted from the wall at an unfortunate moment.

CueSeven gave a beep of excitement. Hermione glanced at the readout, and noticed a large surge of energy.

"Do you think--" Lin began.

"Maybe. I sure hope so." And I hope you make it out of there, as well...

They flew onward. Hermione glanced back for a moment, and gasped. A wall of fire was rapidly erasing the distance between them.

"Lin, we've got to hurry!" she yelled frantically. But at that moment, one of their pursuers hit the Twi'lek's fighter with a well placed bolt.

"I've lost shields!" she shouted.

"I'll cover you!" Hermione said, dropping her fighter behind Lin. She hoped her own shield would hold.

"My engines are--" Linra'sin never finished. Hermione jerked her craft up to avoid colliding with her powerless wingmate. The X-wing crashed into the pursuing Imperials and destroyed two of them.

Crack. Hermione's own fighter nearly lost control as her wing snapped from the collision with the ceiling. Alarms rang all over, coming from the frantic droid. By the time Hermione recovered, her shields were already gone from the last TIEs laser bolts.