FRIEND OR FOE?

The X-wings came around on a vector that brought them straight at him. Corran cut his throttle back and dove at a slight angle so he would pass beneath their incoming vector. One X-wing inverted and pulled up through a loop to drop on Corran’s tail while the other broke the other way. Corran knew the second pilot had made a mistake, and instantly acted to make the most of it. Cutting his throttle back, he turned hard to starboard and then back again to port.

Corran throttled up and closed with the X-wing. You’re mine now. He pushed the Interceptor into point blank range and started to fire, then he saw a blue crest on the X-wing’s S-foils. Though no words accompanied the crest, Corran knew they should have.

Rogue Squadron!

The second he recognized the crest, his finger fell away from the trigger. He didn’t know why he didn’t fire. Fear crystallized in his belly at the sight of it, but he knew he wasn’t afraid of the Rogues. It was something else. Something was wrong, hideously wrong, but he could not pierce the veil of mystery surrounding that sensation.

Suddenly something exploded behind him, pitching him forward.…

A woman’s voice spoke to him. Her words came tinged with anger, bitten off harshly and clearly meant to hurt him. “You have failed, Nemesis One.”