{"product_id":"solo-command-star-wars-legends-wraith-squadron-isbn-9780593726112","title":"Solo Command: Star Wars Legends (Wraith Squadron)","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Rebel Alliance’s elite strike force must join together with Han Solo to take down their old foe, the warlord Zsinj.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Wraith Squadron: they are the Rebel Alliance’s ultimate strike force. Sleek, swift, and deadly, they are the first in battle, the last line of defense. Now they must find and destroy a wily enemy more powerful than the Empire itself. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir covert mission has been a success. The enemy has been vanquished. Or so they thought. The Super Star Destroyer Iron Fist somehow escaped destruction and with it the New Republic’s greatest threat, the infamous warlord Zsinj. To defeat him, Wraith Squadron must join a combat task force led by the only man crafty enough to beat Zsinj at his own game: Han Solo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But Zsinj knows the X-wing fighters’ indomitable courage is both their greatest strength–and their greatest weakness. For even against the most overwhelming odds, the Rebels will fight to the death. And that will leave Zsinj the galaxy’s unchallenged master!\u003cb\u003eAaron Allston\u003c\/b\u003e was the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of thirteen \u003ci\u003eStar Wars \u003c\/i\u003enovels as well as the Doc Sidhe novels, which combine 1930s-style hero-pulp fiction with Celtic myth. In addition to being a writer, he was a game designer, and in 2006 he was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Hall of Fame. Allston died in 2014.Starfighters swarmed from the sides of the Mon Calamari cruiser \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda\u003c\/i\u003e like insects from a deep-space nest. They formed up in four groups—two X-wing, one A-wing, one B-wing—and descended toward Levian Two, the world \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda\u003c\/i\u003e now orbited.  From this altitude, it seemed stony and orange and impossibly inhospitable, but the comm chatter the pilots were picking up suggested otherwise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Entering Delta Sector. More of the same. I'll map-flag locations of survivors.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ravine Six here. Repulsorlift is out. I'm going to have to attempt a high-speed landing.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ravine Six, switch to ten-oh-three. You've got your own controller standing by.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Beta Sector Base, this is Beta Ten. I read unknowns descending, four groups.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Beta Ten, this is Base. There are some TIEs in the unknowns but they're mostly friendlies.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedge sighed and activated his comm unit. \"Beta Sector Base, this is Rogue Leader. You've got Rogue, Wraith, Polearm, and Nova Squadrons in descent to your position. Looks like we're a little late to the party.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"'Fraid so, Rogue Leader. You've missed a Raptor raid. They blasted out of here half an hour ago. We've got settlements and facilities hit all over this hemisphere. Could we interest you in some search-and-rescue action?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Glad to oblige. Give us vectors for twenty search pairs and we'll get on it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ships dropping out of hyperspace!\" It was \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda\u003c\/i\u003e's sensor officer, Golorno, a human young enough not to be able to keep his voice level in times of stress. \"I count four, five, six capital ships!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHan Solo abandoned his armature-mounted chair and moved to stand behind Golorno. He turned to his communications officer. \"Recall the starfighters now.\" Then he leaned over Golorno's shoulder. \"Details, I need details,\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Uh, uh, two Star Destroyers, one \u003ci\u003eImperial\u003c\/i\u003e-class, one \u003ci\u003eVictory\u003c\/i\u003e-class. One heavy cruiser, a Dreadnaught, I think.  Two light cruisers—telemetry says probably \u003ci\u003eCarrack\u003c\/i\u003e-class.  At the back of the formation .  .  .\" The young officer's voice dropped. \"One Super-class Star Destroyer.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eIron Fist.\u003c\/i\u003e\" Solo straightened and slapped his hands together. \"He's finally decided to come in for a scrap.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe calculated unit strengths. His flagship was \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda,\u003c\/i\u003e one of the most powerful of the Mon Calamari cruisers, and its pilot complement, led by Wedge Antilles, couldn't be better. Also in this portion of his fleet were \u003ci\u003eMon Karren,\u003c\/i\u003e a Mon Cal cruiser of more normal strength, \u003ci\u003eTedevium,\u003c\/i\u003e a frigate recently converted from a training ship back to a combat vessel, and \u003ci\u003eEtherhawk,\u003c\/i\u003e a \u003ci\u003eMarauder\u003c\/i\u003e-class corvette that was just one restoration job ahead of being dilapidated. Not nearly enough strength to handle the fleet Zsinj had assembled against him . . . but Zsinj didn't know that Solo's Group 2 was standing by outside the Levian system. One holocomm call and Solo's strength would be doubled, making this more of a fair slugging match. \"Call in Group Two,\" he ordered. \"How long before Zsinj's force reaches us?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Three minutes, sir.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How long before the starfighters return?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"They're grouping. Four or five minutes, sir.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSolo sighed. \"Slugging match\" was to be the correct phrase for it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn impulse caused him to turn back to the door out of the bridge. As he'd suspected, Chewbacca was there, just outside, standing by. The Wookiee, who chose to have no official role in the anti-Zsinj group, but preferred to stay near the bridge and Solo, had come up as soon as the tenor of voices from the bridge sounded different. Solo gave him a confident grin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A second group is dropping out of hyperspace, sir!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSolo whipped around to stare at the sensor screen again. It was broadening, updating--the data stream at the bottom indicated that the sensor screen was being supplemented by information from \u003ci\u003eTedevium.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt showed another force of capital ships appearing on the far side of Levian Two. Telemetry indicated that the new force included two Star Destroyers, two Dreadnaughts, a light cruiser, and a \u003ci\u003eLancer\u003c\/i\u003e-class frigate—a vessel designed especially to assault swarms of starfighters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We're in trouble,\" Solo said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGolorno turned to look up at Solo. He wasn't able to mask his fear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSolo gave him a reassuring half grin. \"Don't worry. I know when to dump my cargo and run.\" He turned to the navigator. \"Set us a course out of here. What's the closest path to get us out of Levian Two's gravity well?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Mon Calamari navigator consulted his board. \"Directly through the Super Star Destroyer's force, sir.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Figures. Make that our primary course. Pass it on to our group.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Done, sir.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Communications, revise my order to Group Two. Tell them to be on course and ready for a jump at any second, but to stand by.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, sir.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe turned to Captain Onoma, a Mon Calamari male with salmon-colored skin. \"Captain, take us out.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, sir.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Third hostile group dropping out of hyperspace!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSolo turned to look, disbelieving, at Golorno. \"You have got to be kidding.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e* * *\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedge Antilles stood his X-wing on its tail and blasted toward the sky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe'd sent Polearm Squadron, the A-wing unit commanded by Captain Todra Mayn, on ahead. There was little tactical sense in keeping the faster craft back with the X-wings and B-wings. Now Wedge led Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron in escorting Nova Squadron, the B-wing unit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSensor data arriving from \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda\u003c\/i\u003e showed Solo's group closing slowly on a unit of six capital ships. The Mon Cal cruiser was already swarming with enemy starfighters, and defenders from \u003ci\u003eMon Karren\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTedevium.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedge added up the numbers on that. Those two ships could field five squadrons of starfighters between them. The enemy force ahead could field nearly twenty-two squadrons. And then there were enemies coming up from behind—as Wedge's squadrons cleared the atmosphere, his sensors picked up two additional groups of capital ships chasing Solo's force.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis was not going to be good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedge wondered if Baron Fel was among the starfighter pilots assaulting \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda.\u003c\/i\u003e Soontir Fel was one of the greatest pilots ever to emerge from the Imperial Academy, one of the greatest to have flown with Rogue Squadron—and a man who shared a secret with Wedge Antilles.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey were brothers-in-law. Only they and a very few others knew that famous Imperial actress Wynssa Starflare was also Wedge's sister Syal Antilles. Since the disappearance of Fel and Syal several years ago, Wedge had had no news whatsoever of his sister. Now Fel was back, but flying for the wrong side, and there was still no word of Syal. It was a secret Wedge kept very close. One of his own pilots, Face Loran, had even starred in a holodrama with Wynssa Starflare, but Wedge had never confided the secret to him, even to obtain Face's reminiscences about his sister.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now, once again, Wedge was rushing into battle with a force that might include Fel, leading to the grim possibility that he might have to shoot down his own brother-in-law . . . and perhaps lose any clue Fel might offer to Syal's fate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSensors showed that the \u003ci\u003eIron Fist\u003c\/i\u003e force had, since the last communication from \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda,\u003c\/i\u003e turned about and was now retreating before Han Solo's force. Wedge nodded.  If Zsinj maintained a course toward the planet, his force and Solo's would blast past one another in a matter of split seconds, exchanging one low-accuracy barrage, and then Zsinj would have to turn his force around to pursue. By retreating before Solo on the shortest course to an area of space where the New Republic fleet could engage their hyperdrives, he prolonged the engagement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWedge's squadrons caught up to \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda,\u003c\/i\u003e but circled around several kilometers from the Mon Cal cruiser.  At this distance, the swarming dogfight between starfighters near the cruiser looked like twinkling stars. A grim simile—Wedge reminded himself that some of those twinkles were explosions that had once been friends and allies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"S-foils to attack position,\" he ordered, and suited action to words by toggling the appropriate switch above his line of sight. His S-foils split and locked into the familiar profile that gave the X-wing its name. \"B-wings, you may arm your weapons.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis sensors showed Zsinj's force spread out before the approaching \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStraightforward tactics; it meant \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda\u003c\/i\u003e couldn't expect to make a minor course change to elude a tight group of ships even temporarily. Any minor course change would still send \u003ci\u003eMon Remonda\u003c\/i\u003e into the umbrella of enemy ships; any major course change would allow the pursuit ships to catch up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut this tactic was about to work in Wedge's favor.Book 3 of the Wraith Squadron series; The Essential Legends Collection","brand":"Random House Worlds","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302942331109,"sku":"NP9780593726112","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593726112_1ff667bc-f6ce-426f-91e4-9f21707d8500.jpg?v=1767736891","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/solo-command-star-wars-legends-wraith-squadron-isbn-9780593726112","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}