Chapter 7 – The Great Escape
As Ashla Fett charged down the hallways of Echo Base, alarms blared and lights flashed, alerting the entire base to the prisoner's escape. Many times, rebels would appear from a room or another hallway, firing their blasters at Ashla. But no one could hurt her. She had Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to defend herself with. It wasn't a blaster, but at least she could use it to deflect blasterfire. She wisely decided not to kill any of her attackers, knowing that that would create more tension between her and the Rebellion.
Ashla had a plan of escape, but it wasn't quite working the way she had hoped. Because she had been unconscious when the rebels took her to her cell, she had no idea how to get back to the hanger through which she had entered. She was running without knowing which way she was going. She also knew that it would only be a matter of time before the rebels boxed her in and recaptured her – if they allowed her to live.
Ashla ran through an open door, rounded a corner, and slid to a halt. At the other end of the hallway she had just entered were four rebels, one of whom was operating a large blaster turret. Although slower than a standard blaster, this turret was powerful enough to punch holes in ships with light armor. It was so powerful, in fact, that Ashla wouldn't be able to deflect the bolts with her lightsaber. She could have gotten past the turret, but she didn't believe that she had enough time. She decided to go back into the previous hallway and find another way to the hanger. But just as she turned around, the door slid shut and was locked, trapping Ashla in the hallway with the cannon.
The rebels began firing at her, and Ashla backed against the closed door. Blaster bolts flew past her and Ashla used her lightsaber to deflect as many of them as she could. The turret tore chunks of ice out of the walls, slowly exposing Ashla. Thinking quickly, she stuck her lightsaber into the door and began to carve a hole big enough for her to crawl through. As she was cutting, she had to simultaneously dodge the blasterfire coming from the rebels. After a while, she completed her circular hole and crawled back into the previous hallway.
Eventually, Ashla found her way to the main hanger. Luckily, the hanger doors were still open. There was a tauntaun stable near the doors. Tauntauns were grey-furred, tusked, bipedal riding beasts that smelled terrible. They had adapted to Hoth's climate, and were well-suited for speedy transportation. That was why the rebels used them. If Ashla could get on one of those creatures, she could ride it back to her ship, and the rebels wouldn't be fast enough to catch her.
Just as she was about to make a run for the stable, Ashla had to duck in response to a blaster bolt that would have hit her in the head. Han Solo was standing next to the Millennium Falcon, firing his blaster pistol. Ashla twirled her lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolts. One deflected bolt hit a series of wires on the Falcon, causing it to erupt into sparks. "Hey!" yelled Han. "I just fixed that!" He began to fire his blaster at a more rapid pace, and Ashla was hard-pressed to block his shots.
Suddenly, Ashla was hit from behind. The blow was so powerful that it knocked the lightsaber out of her hand and sent it bouncing underneath an X-Wing starighter. Before she could retrieve her weapon, Ashla felt something grab her by the waist and lift her off the ground. It was Chewbacca! He must have been the one who punched Ashla. Reacting quickly, she swung her legs forward and let them fall backward, kicking the Wookiee in the thighs. In response to the pain, Chewbacca howled and dropped Ashla, who was ready to engage her enemies in hand-to-hand combat.
Han couldn't shoot at Ashla for fear of accidently hitting Chewbacca, so he holstered his pistol and charged at her, rearing up for a punch. Ashla ducked just as Han swung his arm, and then punched him twice in the chest. While he was momentarily stunned, Ashla kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Ashla then turned to Chewbacca and began to punch him repeatedly in the stomach. But Wookiees were tougher than humans, and her attacks had little effect. Chewbacca grabbed her right arm in mid-swing and twisted, hoping to sprain her arm. But Ashla knew how to counter this classic move; she flipped sideways in the direction of Chewbacca's twist.
By this time, Han had recovered from Ashla's kick and was back on his feet. In the middle of Ashla's flip, Han carefully aimed and punched her in the back. The combined momentum of the flip and the blow caused Ashla to fall to the ground. Slightly dazed, Ashla noticed that Han was about to stomp on her chest, so she rolled sideways. Han tried to stomp again, so Ashla rolled sideways once more, but, this time, she swept her legs against Han's, knocking him down. Chewbacca stood behind Han, ready to attack once more. Ashla jumped to her feet and thought quickly. Taking a running start, she stepped on Han's chest, knocking the wind out of him. At the same time, she planted her other foot against Chewbacca's stomach and used her momentum to flip backwards, extending her left foot in mid-flip to kick Chewbacca in the chin, causing his head to snap backward. Once she landed, Ashla performed a spinning-jump-kick that hit Chewbacca's stomach with enough force to send him flying. Ashla landed on Han's chest, knocking the wind out of him once more.
With both of her enemies subdued, Ashla made a break for the tauntaun stable just as several rebel guards rushed into the hanger. She heard one of the rebels yell, "Close the blast doors! Hurry!" The giant hanger doors slowly began to converge. If Ashla wasn't quick enough, she would be trapped. She hopped onto one tauntaun's back and kicked it in the side. The creature bleated and ran out of the stable. Ashla steered the tauntaun toward the doors, which were already halfway closed. Blasterfire erupted around her, prompting Ashla to steer in small zigzags so that the shots were less likely to hit her. She was almost at the hanger doors, but they were nearly shut. Ashla was afraid that she wouldn't make it. Miraculously, her tauntaun made it through at the very last possible second. The doors shut with Ashla safely outside the base. Savoring her victory, she prodded the tauntaun forward, running toward her ship at maximum speed.
Back inside Echo Base, Luke Skywalker ran into the hanger and took in the scene before him. Han and Chewbacca were struggling to their feet. Some exposed wires on the Millennium Falcon had caught fire after being hit by deflected blaster bolts. Han winced, groaned, and coughed as he grabbed his broken nose, which was spouting blood. Chewbacca clutched his stomach, moaning the whole while. The closed hanger doors were peppered with scorch marks where stray blaster bolts had hit them. A few of the rebels were attempting to calm the other tauntauns, which were panicking because of the blasterfire. Some other rebels were struggling to unlock the hanger doors so that they could be opened again.
Luke then noticed his father's lightsaber lying underneath a nearby X-Wing. As he went to retrieve the weapon, Luke's mind began to whir with questions. How did Ashla know how to handle a lightsaber so well? She must have had a lot of experience to have been able to hold it with a reverse grip. And then she had single-handedly defeated both Han and Chewbacca at the same time. Not very many bounty hunters could accomplish such a feat.
What Luke found the most surprising, however, was that she had known his father, or at least who he was. But how? How did she know him? Luke wanted to find out. He had to find out. If Ashla knew anything that could help Luke to piece his past together, he was willing to take any risks.
"Artoo!" Luke called. R2-D2 rolled up to Luke and chirped a greeting. Luke instructed, "Artoo, get my fighter ready as fast as you can." R2-D2 beeped an affirmative and rolled up to Luke's X-Wing.
Princess Leia Organa walked up to Luke and asked, "Where are you going?"
Luke answered, "I'm going after her."
Leia shook her head, "There's no point in trying to catch her now. We might as well let her go."
"I don't want to catch her," negated Luke. "I want to talk to her."
Han, still clutching his nose with a blood-stained rag, came and asked, "Seriously, you want to go through that whole thing again?"
Luke fought the urge to laugh. Han spoke with a nasally voice as a result of the injury to his nose. Luke answered, "Yes. Don't you think it's weird that she knew how to use a lightsaber? Or that she could fight you and Chewie like that? I bet there's something else going on, and I want to know what it is."
"You wanna know what's going on?" repeated Han. "I think it's obvious; she's insane! She's a crazy bounty hunter! She's a walking disaster magnet! You might as well commit suicide if you're planning on going after her."
"Han!" scolded Leia. "Why don't you go to the infirmary and get your big, sarcastic nose fixed!"
Han let out what Luke assumed was supposed to be a laugh. "That one's actually kinda funny. You should use it on other people more often."
"Just go!" ordered Leia.
"As you wish, Your Worshipfulness!" Before Leia could offer a retort, Han spun on his heel and marched away.
Leia turned back to Luke and said, "As for you, I'm begging you to reconsider. Ashla Fett is very dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."
Luke smiled reassuringly. "I won't. Everything's going to be okay. Trust me."
Leia wanted to argue further, but she couldn't think of anything she could say that would change Luke's mind. He was strong-willed and determined – a combination that made him such a great asset to the Rebellion. Leia finally replied, "I do trust you."
Luke nodded. "I know." He turned around and climbed into his X-Wing. R2-D2, already in the astromech socket, beeped excitedly and started up the fighter's engines. Once the hanger doors were open, the starfighter rose off of the ground and flew out of the hanger.
Ashla rode her tauntaun back to the cliff base where her ship was still parked. She had made it in less than half an hour. Not wasting any time, she hopped off of the tauntaun and entered the ship. She ran to the cockpit and began throwing switches, starting the ship's engines. As soon as Ashla was clear, she took off into the sky. Fighting the wind and snow, she exited Hoth's atmosphere and flew into space.
Safely away from the rebel base, Ashla breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a narrow and difficult escape, but she had pulled it off. Now she could think about what to do next. She now knew that Han Solo was still in Echo Base, and that the Millennium Falcon was still damaged. She also knew that Luke Skywalker was indeed the son of Anakin Skywalker, and that he would fetch a handsome price from the Empire. Ashla decided to contact Boba Fett and summon him to Hoth so they could capture Luke and Han.
Ashla was about to activate the ship's transmitter when she noticed something on the scanners. An X-wing starfighter was following her. A closer inspection of the ship revealed that the pilot was none other than Luke. Ashla couldn't help but be amused. Even after their conversation in the detention cell, Luke still wanted to talk to her. It was exactly the kind of thing that Anakin would've done. Unfortunately, Ashla wasn't in the mood for talking. She was a bounty hunter, and Luke was her prey. She would take him down one way or another, but it would not be through conversation. She had to leave the Hoth System. Hopefully, she would lose Luke in hyperspace. Ashla activated the nav-computer and set the coordinates for the nearest system. As soon as the coordinates were ready, she activated the hyperdrive and jumped into hyperspace.
In his X-Wing, Luke followed Ashla's ship. He knew that she would try to flee the system, so he had instructed R2-D2 to monitor her ship and be prepared to receive her hyperspace coordinates. As soon as he had them, R2-D2 whistled and beeped, boasting his success. Luke laughed and said, "Okay, Artoo. Good job. Plug in the coordinates and get us out of here." The astromech droid did as instructed and the X-Wing jumped into hyperspace, en route to Ashla's destination.
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