☆ 𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄 ☆ 𝐂. 𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑

twenty six

An explosion flared, as another freighter was blown up by the Empire. The Rebel fleet flew between X-Wings, while also dodging the blasts that came from the Imperial Star Destroyers.

The Cruiser's green blasts pierced through various ships, as the Rebel fleet's numbers rapidly decreased. The battle above Umbara was set to be another one of the Rebellion's greatest losses, as the two cruisers managed to easily overpower the fleet.

There were many Rebel ships drifting through the space, torn apart as the pilots were flopping out of the cockpit window, while others floated away from their ships.

A squadron of Y-Wings flew towards the star destroyers, firing at the shields at the top of the bridge. The aim of the mission was to infiltrate Umbara and conduct an airstrike on the air base, but so far the Rebellion has had no success as they haven't been able to enter the planet yet.

One Y-Wing flew ahead of the others, leading the attack. "Gold Squadron, keep the cruisers distracted and take down their shields. Phoenix Squadron, come with me." One of the leading pilots spoke, as the squadron split in half as one half flew towards Umbara, while the rest continued the attack on the Cruisers.

The squad that flew into the atmosphere of Umbara were quickly followed by a squad of TIE Interceptors, that were much faster and agile than the other TIEs. "Commander Antilles, we have Interceptors closing in." one of the pilots spoke through the radio.

The Commander who went by the name of Wedge Antilles looked at his scanners, as he picked up the signals of the approaching TIEs. "Alright, let's show these bucket heads what we're made of." Wedge replied into the radio, as the Y-Wings dived out of the way of the TIEs to start their attack.

Above Umbara, the battle was still hitting the Rebel Fleet. The Cruisers started to increase their fire onto the freighters, which were piloted by rebels of a higher rank.

The blasts shook the fleet, as more ships fell after each blast. One of the U-Wing's forced down the accelerator, as they filtered between various TIEs, before they started to fire at the Cruisers, in an attempt to help the Gold Squadron.

A few other freighters picked up the tactic, as more ships started to attack the cruisers; but their attacks were not having the biggest effect on the Star Destroyers.

The radio cackled across the communication system, as various pilots attempted to contact the freighters but were shot down before they could speak. "Mayday, mayday. I've lost the squadron, I repeat, I've lost the squadron. I need immediate back up." A voice spoke through the radio.

"Antilles, get out of there." Another voice spoke through the radio. More explosions flared around the fleet, as the numbers decreased even more. The Rebel fleet only had so long left before they would all be eliminated. "No, stay put. We have to push on." Another voice argued.

The more time they wasted, the more ships they lost to the Empire, as more freighters were destroyed. "We cannot win this one, we've already lost too many, we need to get out of here." A panicked voice shouted over the radio. In his cockpit, Cassian frowned as he piloted the U-Wing out of the way of the Star Destroyer's aim, dodging their blasts.

"No. We have to keep fighting, if we don't take the risk today then the Empire will increase their air forces. We need to take down the air base." A strong voice directed from one of the main command ships. Cassian shared a look with K-2, who both shared the thought that there could be chance that the Rebellion could lose in this battle.

Cassian continued to fly about the cruisers, releasing all of his fire power onto the shields to help the Gold Squadron that was quickly decreasing in numbers. Looking outside the window of the cockpit, Cassian could see that they had lost a lot of people, and he could only imagine how many more people they would lose if they carried on the fight. Cassian leaned forward and pressed a button to activate the radio system. "Captain Syndulla, with all due respect, we've lost too many people. We need to leave, or we'll all be wiped out." Cassian spoke, in an attempt to sway the Captain's decision.