The TIE fighters approach head-on. The looseness of the TIE formation worries Han. They can easily out-flank him and catch the Falcon in a crossfire. Han slows and begins targeting, selecting the port side TIE as the primary target, the center as the secondary, and the starboard as the tertiary. He hopes the Falcon’s appearance will lull the TIE pilots into a false sense of security.
The TIE laser cannons blaze at long range. As the dangerous red bolts flare and die ahead of the cockpit, Han smiles. The Imperial pilots are firing blindly. Either they are approaching the encounter with overconfidence or they are rookies. Blind firing does nothing but waste time a pilot should spend targeting.
The TIEs close to medium range, their laser cannons still flashing wildly. Han presses the trigger and the Falcon’s weapons flare. Four streaks of blue light stream toward the first TIE, the laser cannons have fired again. The bolts strike a glancing blow, tearing off the top third of the second fighter’s solar panel. The ship spins away into space, then explodes a moment later.
When the third pilot sees the Falcon’s effectiveness, he changes tactics. He ducks beneath the Falcon’s belly, where he faces only one set of weapons. As Han re-targets the belly gun well, two hits jolt the freighter.
Han curses and triggers the belly turret. The Falcon trembles twice more. Damage warnings light Chewbacca’s panel.
“‘Gamble your money away,'” Han growls, mimicking the last words Leia said to him. “‘Trivial vices are not my idea of fun!'” He triggers the belly turret again. The TIE flashes out from beneath the Falcon trailing green flame, which quickly dies as the pilot does some impromptu damage control. She’s going to pay for every bit of this damage.”
Chewbacca growls a question.
“I’ll tell you why!” Han exclaims. “Because if she had stuck with us like I said, we wouldn’t be here, that’s why!”
The two TIE fighters regroup for another pass. Han knows they have learned to respect his dilapidated-appearing freighter. Glancing over at Chewbacca’s damage control panel, Han also repsects them.
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If Han concentrates his fire on one TIE fighter, Click Here