quot;Hawk Two standing by."

"Hawk Two standing by."

"Hawk Three standing by."

"Hawk Four standing by."

Nodding, she disarmed the safety mechanism on her fighter's weapon. "Nighthawk squadron decrease speed and form up on my wing. Time until target, thirty seconds." Tightening her hold on the controls of the fighter, Aayla angled her fighter upwards before diving down and towards the guard barracks. "Weapons free!"

Launching her bombs, Aayla pulled up sharply as behind her the barracks went up into flames. Banking around, Aayla guided her fighter towards the western tower when something strange happened. The top level of the tower wavered and…disappeared. Exposing a pair of large manned turrets atop either tower. "Evasive action!" Aayla shouted, sending her fighter into a roll as she avoided the incoming fire from the turrets.

'Those certainly weren't in the mission brief.' Aayla cursed to herself as she pulled away sharply from the mansion.

"This is Hawk Four! I've been clipped."

Turning around in her seat, Aayla frowned as she saw small puffs of smoke coming out of the back of Hawk Four. "Hawk Leader to Hawk Four, it looks like you took some damage to your main thruster. Pull up and enter a holding pattern. You're done for the day."

"Damn it, roger that Hawk Leader, Hawk Four heading to holding area."

Losing one of her squad was a serious blow, but she didn't want to risk the pilot's life. Not to mention that flying a crippled fighter could put the rest of them at risk. Banking around slowly, Aayla took a hard look at the two turrets. There was no good way to approach them. And if they weren't taken out than the LAAT's would be sitting ducks. "Hawks One, Two and Three. Break off and head north. I'm going to draw the fire of those two towers to the south as I make a run for the guard shack. Once I've got their attention swing in and take them out."