The Darkest Star
Prologue: suddenly silenced
'We should turn back' Chewbacca growled to the man in the pilot's seat beside him. He would follow that man wherever he went, but that didn't mean he had to sit around complacently. Chewie had always been a wookie of action, yet here he was being pulled away from a cause he believed in. Strangely enough, Han solo believed in it too, he just didn't realize it yet.
The man in question shook his head "They're nice people, Chewie, but they're nothing but trouble. We're in enough of that as it is." 'That hasn't stopped you from doing the right thing before.' Chewbacca retorted. Han stopped putting coordinates into the hyperdrive. Chewbacca just had to use the words 'the right thing' didn't he? Han did have a nasty habit of doing the right thing, all right. It had gotten him in trouble every time. Perhaps that was why he had left the alliance, every detail of that base practically screamed of 'the right thing'. Doing the right thing would only end up with him owing an outstanding debt to Jabba. Although he could reason out why he left, something inside kept on screaming at him to turn around.
"We'll pay off Jabba, then go back. I promise." He told his first mate, and finished putting in the coordinates. He was tired of doing the right thing. The wrong thing couldn't possibly get him in any more trouble. Chewbacca growled a resigned assent, and the ship went hurtling towards Tatooine.
Break…
"We're going to lose." Leia said, the last drop of hope draining away from her voice. "We've been telling you that for ten minutes now." Mon Mothma replied earnestly, "We have to get out of here." Leia shook her head stubbornly, "I'm staying here until the battle's finished." She had been so sure, she had demanded that they stay for a bit longer, certain that Luke would pull through. Then, almost as suddenly as it had come, her certainty stopped. Now, there was not enough time to safely evacuate, and it was her fault. She would not let the people who had risked their lives for this cause die while she was safe inside a transport shuttle. "Leia," Mothma tried again, "If we all die here, so does the rebellion. Someone has to keep fighting." Well, that was something Leia was good at. "Fine," she said with cutting abruptness, "but we're loading the ship to full capacity. Not just officials, either. We take whoever can fit." With that, Leia swept out of the room, leaving Mothma in an empty room wondering whether or not she was happy that she had gotten her way.
Break…
He had it. He had relinquished himself to the Force, and he could feel exactly when to shoot. He was almost there when a shot ran through his ship, and he found himself spinning out of control. He recovered, only to find a modified TIE fighter looming over him. He dodged, but the craft matched every maneuver he attempted. He tried a final maneuver, only to have another shot pierce his X-Wing's hull.
The next thing he knew was pain. He was not sure whether it was the impact of the crash that hurt him, or the feeling in his skull that announced the death of an entire planet, or the simple fact that he had failed them all. All he was sure of was the pain, which blinded him to the rest of the world.
Break…
"Is this as fast as you can go?" snapped Princess Leia, nearly giving the pilot a heart attack. "Actually, it is." He replied, "the weight of all the passengers makes it impossible to go any faster." His name was Nick Orryl, a shy shadow of a man who rarely moved away from the controls of his small transport ship. The Valiant was able to comfortably seat twelve people. Leia had managed to load twenty-six. Orryl was surprised that his ship was holding up as well as it was. "Well, if you just let me drop the cargo…" Leia argued, determined to get her way no matter what. "We might end up on a desolate planet," Orryl said, attempting to explain his reasoning, "If we do, those are the only supplies we have." "Well, it hardly matter if we're dead now will it?" Leia practically screamed. The pilot could not disagree with that point. They were already being fired upon, and there was little they could do due to their sluggish pace. Orryl nodded, and Leia dumped the cargo without another word.
The Valiant did go faster, and they managed to get near a planet before they were hit by blaster fire. "I don't think I can keep her up for much longer." Orryl told the princess, but she didn't pay too much attention. "General Kenobi?" Leia asked, and Orryl looked at her quizzically. "Who is that?" he asked her, but she just shook her head and refused to answer. "Get as close to the planet as you can." She instructed. He did as she said, and managed to get close enough that when the engine finally gave way, they were caught in the planet's gravity.
Orryl might have been imagining things, but it seemed to him that instead of getting faster as they should have been, the ship moved slower the closer they got to the planet's surface until they gently landed on the ground. Orryl looked around to make sure no one had gotten hurt. They all looked shocked, but fine. Leia, however, looked exhausted. "Were are we?" a passenger asked. Orryl accessed his ship computer in order to find out, but it was taking some time. "Dagobah." Leia said, then promptly fainted. Orryl looked at his computer, which had finally found an answer. "That's right, actually. We're on Dagobah."
Break…
Han and Chewbacca walked out of Jabba's palace. "You know, that was surprisingly easy." Han commented. Chewie agreed. They traveled to the palace, gave Jabba the money, and then walked out with nothing more foreboding then one of Jabba's laughs. However, it seemed far too simple to the two companions. The life of a smuggler was never simple, especially when that smuggler owed money. "The quicker we get to the ship, the better." Han told Chewbacca, "I think that if we hurry, we might be able to help them out." 'If we had turned around before coming here, we would have been able to help them.' The wookie replied. "Alright, I'm sorry. Next time we won't pay off the bounty on our heads, and let Boba Fett catch us." Han said, the sarcasm obvious. "It seems it wouldn't have mattered anyway." A voice said, causing Han to turn around. Standing behind them was Boba Fett himself, and he had a blaster pointed at both of them. "You have got to be kidding me." Han muttered, and slowly raised his hands above his head.
Break…
The pain swarmed through him, flooding out everything. This is it, he thought, I'm dying. He did not fear death, in fact he reached for it, wanting an end to the pain and agony that clouded his mind and blocked out everything else. It blocked out the image of Obi-Wan, who was desperately trying to reach him, it blocked out the sound of stormtroopers talking about a bounty hunter and a smuggler, but most importantly, it blocked out the visage of a darkly-clad man, blinded by pain in his own right, who carried him to the medbay and refused to let him die.