"Are you ready," asked Xander excitedly through his comm in his fighter. He looked around and rubbed his gloved hands over the consoles in the fighter. He couldn't help but smile. He called his fighter 'the Challenger'. He wasn't sure why, but he was sure that someone had suggested that name to him. Perhaps it had been his mother.
The sound of static filled his helmet before it was replaced with a clear voice. "You bet I am," called Poe.
Xander laughed as he steered the fighter straight so that his and Poe's wings were nearly touching. Jax hung on Xander's other side with the rest of the fleet clustered in around them. It was an impressive planet for being so on the Outer Rim. Xander just hoped that they didn't destroy it that much when they were finished.
"TIE's in bound!"
One of the other commander's call jolted Xander from his daydream. As he dove toward the surface, spinning and twirling, he noticed TIE's following in hot purist. He growled under his breath as he continued to veer sideways so that their blasts continued to miss him and hit the surface below. He saw rumble and debris leap into the air and he secretly hoped that no one was there to get hurt from it.
"Xander, watch your right flank," warned Jax.
Xander nodded from inside his fighter. He banked a hard right turn and the TIE Fighter plummeted into the ground, exploding with a rush of metal and earth. Xander quickly maneuvered around it as he saw another TIE that was hot on Poe's fin.
He forced himself forward almost automatically as he tried to catch the TIE in his sights. It was a lot harder than he expected with the rest of the ships flying around and since they weren't in space.
"BEEP BOW BEEP!"
Xander rolled his eyes as he looked at the screen where R7-D6's warning popped up. His droid was always worrying about stuff like that. He just needed to shut up and let Xander fly the way that he wanted to fly.
"I know, I know," muttered Xander when R7 didn't let up. He veered over and followed the TIE. "I got it."
He fired at the TIE and it exploded in front of him. Xander rushed forward through it and he let out a breath of relief. He smiled to himself in relief before he saw something dark hurtling toward him.
Xander gasped as something collided with his fighter. It started to spiral and Xander felt like he was going to be sick. He closed his eyes before he felt the beginning of an impact and then everything else went black.
