Chapter 43 – Aerial Pursuit - Star Wars: Relics of the Past

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The moment he realized what was happening, Amir activated the ship's cloaking mode. The Traveler gradually faded, turning translucent. Under

The moment he realized what was happening, Amir activated the ship's cloaking mode. The Traveler gradually faded, turning translucent.

Under Amir's control, the ship curved and twisted through the atmosphere in erratic loops.

There wasn't time to power down all systems, so for now, cloaking was purely optical—The Traveler's signal was still traceable by radar.

That meant any sudden attack could still land.

Sure enough, one of the TIE fighters behind him launched a torpedo, followed by a barrage of laser blasts.

Amir kept his eyes locked on the scanner, tracking the enemy positions as he adjusted the ship's angle to evade the assault. At the same time, he frantically programmed the hyperspace coordinates.

Then, a familiar pulse surged through the air around him.

"Vmmm~"

A warning light on the control panel flashed red—space interference. They'd jammed hyperspace.

He'd just used this very tactic against the Empire. Now they were returning the favor. What goes around comes around.

But he'd studied this device. He knew its traits.

First, the disruption lasted around thirty minutes.

Second, it covered a wide area. Even with The Traveler's top speed, escaping its effective radius would take about ten minutes.

Amir rerouted all available power to the engines and shot forward.

Ten minutes was better than thirty.

The Traveler turned into a white blur over the skies of Tatooine, shrinking rapidly into the distance with two TIE fighters in close pursuit.

Amir worked fast, but he couldn't shake them. In terms of raw sublight speed, most freighters couldn't match starfighters.

The Traveler had undergone heavy modification—just enough to keep up.

Unless he installed a dedicated sublight booster capable of reaching near-light speeds without hyperspace, these kinds of chases were unavoidable.

One advantage—TIE fighters didn't have hyperdrives.

Amir yanked the control stick, pulling the ship into a sharp lateral turn that dodged a heavy laser blast aimed at the engines. He slammed a button.

Two torpedo bays under the wings dropped four torpedoes behind the ship.

The TIEs reacted instantly, veering off-course to avoid them.

Amir kept his eyes on the radar. The moment the fighters got close, he hit the detonation trigger.

No sound. Just light bending under a high-energy shockwave.

The torpedoes exploded, scattering countless fragments in every direction.

The debris pelted the TIEs, but didn't penetrate their reinforced hulls.

"Let's see how many of those you can take," Amir muttered, checking his ammo stock. He had enough left for now.

At least The Traveler had four deflector shield generators. As long as the same area wasn't hit repeatedly, they'd hold.

So far, the enemy hadn't landed a single hit.

Following Obi-Wan's teachings, Amir kept a constant link to the Force.

With enough focus, he could sense the enemy's firing patterns—the angles of attack, even the timing of heavy laser fire.

It pushed his limits, but he could hold it for short bursts.

The TIEs, frustrated, changed tactics. No more scattered firing. They repositioned, one flanking each side of The Traveler.

Amir noticed their formation and smirked.

Classic pincer maneuver. He'd learned this at the Imperial Naval Academy—naval ops was his specialty.

The TIEs aimed at The Traveler's wings, trying to cut off its ability to roll or dodge on a central axis. Once they fired, their lasers would overlap in a deadly crisscross ahead of him.

Not precise, but effective. If it hit, even heavy shields would buckle under the pressure of four cannons firing in sync.

Amir didn't take it lightly. He kept adjusting his vector.

When being hunted, unpredictability was everything. If the enemy couldn't predict your path, they couldn't hit you.

As long as his trajectory remained erratic, neither pilot nor targeting computer could lock on.

But fly in a straight line too long, and you'd be toast.

To the TIEs, The Traveler kept shifting course just before lock-on—again and again their lasers missed.

Finally, they got sick of it.

If they couldn't hit him directly, they'd flood the space ahead. Let's see you dodge this!

Both TIEs opened fire in tight volleys, beams tearing across every possible escape route.

Amir didn't stop moving. The ship spun sharply on its axis as he deployed two different torpedoes from the bay.

They barely cleared the launchers before getting struck by laser fire—triggering massive fireballs that filled the TIEs' field of vision.

But the Imperial pilots charged right through the flames.

The Traveler rocked violently under several impacts.

"Knew I'd get hit a few times," Amir muttered, scanning the damage. "Good—shields held."

He'd dodged the brunt of the barrage with constant spinning, but four or five shots had struck the wings.

As long as the thrusters weren't damaged, the ship could keep going. That was his confidence.

Now, it was the enemy's turn to panic.

As they broke through the flames, the TIE pilots' eyes widened.

"There were only two torpedoes on radar! Where did the others come from?!"

Amir slammed the trigger.

Two stealth torpedoes detonated point-blank, engulfing both ships in fire and plasma.

These weren't standard torpedoes—he'd modified them with signal-absorbing tech to render them invisible to radar. Paired with flare blasts to blind the enemy, the trick had worked perfectly.

The TIEs' fragile shields shattered.

One fighter lost a wing in the explosion—flames and lightning danced over its mangled frame.

Amir exhaled—almost relaxed—when a realization struck him cold.

TIE fighters. TIE fighters!

Since when do they operate solo?

TIEs don't have hyperdrives. They can't jump to hyperspace on their own. They rely on hyperdrive rings—or a large carrier ship to deploy them.

Hyperdrive rings? No way anyone would use those just to send two fighters out here.

And Tatooine didn't have any local Imperial launch facilities. This desert rock barely had one squad of stormtroopers outfitted for terrain patrol.

That left only one option—

A Star Destroyer was nearby.