Boys Will Be Boys
Chapter Three
One of the Rogues' mechanics solicitously offered Leia a hand as she clambered up onto a fallen log. She ignored the hand. She watched, disgusted, as Janson continued to take credits from beings, even as Wedge did circles high over the tower. In the distance she could hear the familiar whine of the Millennium Falcon's engines as Han approached. Chewbacca stood off to one side, in splendid isolation, muttering to himself and glaring into the sky.
"You didn't have any better luck than I did." It was a statement, not a question.
Leia turned to look at Luke, who had come up beside her. "He says he has to prove he's a good pilot," she said. "I don't know how getting himself killed is going to prove anything."
"No one's going to get killed, your Highness. At least I'm reasonably certain they won't." General Rieekan moved to stand near Luke. The Princess didn't find this particularly reassuring.
"How could you let this happen? How could you condone this?" Leia turned her wrath on the general, tottering a little on her perch.
"They needed this. The pilots, their crews, everyone. They lost so many friends with the Death Star, they need something to cheer for."
"No one's going to be cheering if someone else dies." Leia's face was somber.
"No one's going to die, they're both excellent pilots." Now the general's voice was confident.
Leia didn't respond; her eyes were focused on the tower that rose crazily over the jungle canopy.
Wedge flew the loop first. He'd done it before—with minimum damage to his fighter and no damage to his person—and, as he informed Solo over the comm, he wanted to show him how it was done. After completing his loop successfully, Wedge flew high above, waggling his foils again.
Leia sucked in a breath, and Chewie moaned softly, as the Falcon made her approach. Yavin's setting sun was to his stern, making it look very much like it had when he'd helped Luke destroy the Death Star. Leia knew that Han's ship was small for a freighter, but suddenly it seemed huge when she compared it to Wedge's X-wing, and to the small space between tower and tree where it was supposed to pass.
The crowd went silent.
Luke moved to stand next to Chewie, as if somehow the big Wookiee's experience with the Falcon and all its unique abilities would make the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach go away. It didn't. To quote one of his two Corellian friends, Luke had a bad feeling about this.
Han revved his ship's engines and swooped in low, twisting the Falcon to the same angle as the tilted tower. Wedge brought his fighter in lower to watch the performance. Solo slipped the Falcon through the slot, branches snapping on the big tree from the ship's powerful wake, but the ship never touched the trees. Antilles drifted a little closer.
The worst was over, Luke told himself, exhaling in relief. All Han had to do was circle around the backside of the tower and come up on the other side. But Luke still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. He caught sight of Leia, still on her perch. Her face, bleached white by the setting sun, was tense, and she clutched at Rieekan's hand. She could feel it too, Luke realized, whatever it was.
The Falcon came around from the backside of the tower, but instead of swooping up for a victory loop as the cheering crowd expected, Han drove his ship down and back toward the unbalanced top of the tower. He's going to try it again, the stupid fool! He was still trying to prove he wasn't a coward. Wedge was following close behind.
Han wasn't going to make it a second time, Luke knew, even as he watched helplessly. He didn't know if he should, he didn't know if he could, but Luke knew he had to do something. Shutting his eyes, tuning out the rumbling moans coming from Chewbacca and the noisy gasps from the crowd, Luke reached out to the Force. In his mind, he pictured the small space between the tower and the tree growing larger, and the Falcon shrinking in size.
Luke hear a cry from the crowd and the harsh cracking sound of rock tumbling. Han hadn't made it! Then he felt the ground buck underneath his feet. Earthquake? Earthquake! Could that be the Force's solution? Luke really wasn't sure. He felt himself fall against Chewie's furry side, and opened his eyes in time to see Leia slip from her log, only to be caught by the same mechanic whose help she had spurned a few minutes ago. Only then did Luke look up.
Han was pulling the Falcon straight up and away from the tumbling tower; Wedge was doing the same with his X-wing. With a discordant clang, the two ships brushed against one another before both spun dizzily out of sight. Moments later Luke heard two distinct sounds of ships hitting the jungle floor.
Spectators ran frantically through the darkening jungle in the direction of where they had last seen their companions. Luke noted that Leia was among those in the lead. Only Chewbacca, with his long legs, was far ahead of her. Thank the maker there had been no explosions, nor any sign of fire. Janson called out that he could see Wedge's downed X-wing, and the Rogues veered off in that direction. Seconds later, a relieved roar indicated that Chewie had found the Falcon.
Luke stumbled into the small clearing the plummeting space ship had created, nearly knocking Leia over where she stood staring at it. The Millennium Falcon appeared to be practically undamaged. Or at least as undamaged as that ship could look. There were branches and fern fronds caught in various crevices and around antennas, and it looked as if one of the landing struts had crumpled some, but that was all. The three of them stood bathed in the glow of the ship's running lights, waiting for the hatch to open and for Han Solo to come strutting out.
The ship remained eerily still.
With an agitated howl, Chewie strode over to the ship, slapped his palm against the security plate, and ran up the ramp almost before it came down. Leia ran forward to join him, then stopped halfway up the incline. She stood still, her petite form silhouetted in the light shining out from the ship's interior. With one hand to her mouth, Leia waited.
Luke was ready to go in himself when he finally heard the sound of Chewbacca's footsteps on the deckplating. Straining his ears, he could hear another set of footsteps, slow and unsteady.
Finally, the Wookiee appeared in the hatchway, supporting Han. There was blood running down the side of the pilot's face and one eye was swollen almost shut. However, he wore a proud, somewhat shaken smile on his face.
"I did it!" he crowed. "I told you I could do it." Then Han sagged against Chewbacca, who half-carried his friend away from his ship, muttering monotonously to himself about the stupidity of humans.
Luke swore he heard what sounded like a single sob come from the Princess, but when he turned to look at her, her face was carefully neutral. Only her hands, clenched tightly at her sides, gave her away.