Although the Rebel Army outside had already pulled out all the stops, regrettably, nothing they did had any effect on the fortress itself. The Death Star was simply too massive. It was practically an artificial asteroid, while the Rebel Army's X-wings were like mosquitoes by comparison—annoying, but nothing more.
Of course, anti-aircraft guns could not hit mosquitoes either.
Throughout the command room, Fang Zheng was the only one still watching those mosquitoes buzzing about. Everyone else had focused their attention on the satellite before them.
Imperial fighters launched a merciless counterattack against the Rebel Army. Even Darth Vader joined the battle personally—honestly, Fang Zheng had never understood the point of that. The Rebel Army only had thirty fighters, while a fortress as huge as the Death Star surely had thousands of defensive fighters. There was no need to send too many; dispatching a hundred fighters to surround them would have been enough to block them completely. Why did Darth Vader need to act in person?
Could it be that they thought sending that many fighters against the Rebel Army would be making a mountain out of a molehill?
As Fang Zheng pondered this, the space battle outside the fortress had reached its final moments. Only one Rebel fighter remained, still struggling desperately. It sped through the gaps in the fortress, while Darth Vader led two subordinates in close pursuit.
However, just as Darth Vader locked onto the fighter ahead, a beam descended from above and destroyed one of the fighters beside him. The other immediately lost control as well and slammed directly into Darth Vader's fighter before crashing against the fortress's surface. Darth Vader had clearly not expected his subordinates to be such utter liabilities. Caught off guard, he was sent spinning into the sky.
"All right, kid, no more