Nine
(Family Secrets)

Laser blasts ruthlessly hammered the Millennium Falcon as Boba Fett swept after them in unshakable pursuit.

In the freighter's cockpit, Lando Calrissian frantically maneuvered the vessel that had once belonged to him in concert with her current copilot, Chewbacca. None of their tricks seemed to work, though, and Fett was inflicting more damage all the time.

In the turrets, Winter and Mara laid down a blistering storm of laser fire at their pursuer, but Fett was somehow able to slide his nimble ship out of the way of most of the bolts, absorbing the rest with his vessel's heavy armor.

Lando had considered fleeing the planet and jumping to hyperspace, but Chewbacca had shot that idea down as soon as he suggested it; Luke and Leia were still somewhere in the city, and the Wookiee wasn't leaving without them.

So, they were forced to do their best to avoid the pursuing Fett, who was proving extraordinarily difficult to lose.

Lando grimly thought to himself that there was not much chance of his day getting better; only worse.


Leia watched again as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader dueled along the length of the maintenance hallway leading to the control chamber for Cloud City's central reactor. She looked for opportunities to help her newfound brother, but she was unable to come up with anything. All she could do was just stay out of the way, and this frustrated her to no end.

Vader was angry now, nearly berserk, and he no longer appeared to care if he injured or killed his son as they fought. His lightsaber moved almost too fast to follow now, whirling through overwhelmingly powerful slashes and thrusts as he hammered Luke back through the hallway.

Luke faltered under the relentless assault, but he somehow managed to recover in time, purely on the defensive now. His lightsaber moved with equal speed, the light from the glowing blade leaping out in dizzying spirals that dazzled the eye.

Finally, as Vader paused for just a moment, Luke gathered the Force to himself and released it in a powerful concussive blast. Both Vader and Leia were knocked off their feet, sailing backwards through the air to sprawl several meters away from the young warrior on opposite sides. Leia heard Vader's grunt of pain as he fell heavily to the floor, but she landed gently, as if she had simply sat down instead of fallen.

As Leia hurriedly got to her feet, she realized this was on purpose. She was now on the other side of an open doorway, inside a small maintenance passageway that led off at an angle from the main hall.

Luke met her eyes as she got to her feet, and time seemed to slow for a moment.

Go! his voice 'shouted' within her mind. I'll keep him here.

Leia started to object, but Luke's silent voice became more stern. GO! he 'shouted' again, so forcefully that there was no denying it was a command. You're the only hope the Rebellion has if he defeats me, Luke went on. If I don't make it out of here, go to the Dagobah system.

Then, as if to make sure she didn't still try to stay with him anyway, the door connecting the passage to the main hall forcefully slammed shut. Leia rushed forward and pounded on the door once, but realized resignedly that he was right; she could not help him here.

Leia paused for one final moment, then decisively turned and raced through the maintenance passage, moving as fast as she could. The rough gray walls whipped past her as she ran, and she chose intersections seemingly at random, though some part of her was somehow able to figure out the correct choice every time.

In what seemed like only seconds, Leia emerged from the maintenance passages and burst into one of the main halls of Cloud City, which was now gradually dimming as evening slowly fell.

Leia nearly stumbled as she halted suddenly, staring in shock at the figure standing before her. One of Vader's Sith, the one who had reported to him a few times in the carbon-freezing chamber, stood in the center of the hallway, her eyes fixed expectantly on Leia as if she had known she was coming.

The dark-haired young Kuati woman, about Leia's age, stood with her hands at her sides, partially hidden by the folds of her long black robe. Her lightsaber hung in plain view on her belt, but she made no move toward it.

Leia took a step backwards, her mind racing furiously in an attempt to come up with some way of escaping from Vader's servant, but she halted in surprise as the Sith woman raised a hand with a cautioning expression on her face.

"I have no intention of harming you, Leia," the young woman said, her tone serious. "My loyalties do not lie with Darth Vader and the Sith Order. I'm here to help you." Her voice seemed somewhat familiar.

With a start, Leia realized who the young woman was. Three years ago, Leia had been trying to bring Malysa Kolos, her Jedi Master, and a fellow student to the Rebellion. Her ship had been caught by Vader when they stopped at Tatooine to pick up Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Vader had captured the Jedi, as well. Leia had long thought Malysa to be dead, killed by the Sith like her master.

Malysa nodded slowly as comprehension dawned on Leia's face. "I've been pretending to serve Vader since he captured me," the young Jedi explained. "As far as he and the rest of the Empire knows, I'm a loyal Sith. I've done what I can to help the Rebellion over the last few years, but I don't get many opportunities."

Something clicked in Leia's mind at this. "You're the one who sent that message at Ord Mantell, aren't you? The one that warned us the local garrison knew we were there?"

Malysa nodded. "I tried to delay them long enough for your group to escape, but it was closer than I would have liked. Another Sith was there with me, and I had to make sure he didn't realize I was a double agent." She glanced down at her chronometer and frowned. "We don't have much time," she said quickly. "The stormtroopers are searching for your group, and their next sweep will be right through here. We need to go."

Leia nodded, and the two women ran through the white halls, dodging panicked civilians clutching bundles. Leia caught from the buzzing conversation around them that the Empire had seized control of the city, and everyone was fleeing before the Imperials could fully secure all the ports and trap them here.

Malysa looked over at Leia as they ran. "The Millennium Falcon has taken off," she said, swerving around a man pulling two children along, his expression worried. "I came here in Lord Vader's shuttle, but there are dozens of stormtroopers around there. We're going to have to get out on a civilian transport."

Leia was about to nod in agreement when she felt a brush against her mind through the Force. She somehow recognized Mara Jade's presence in the touch, and she tried to recoil, to shove the touch away as hard as she could.

Listen to me! Mara's voice 'said' firmly in her mind, like Luke's had earlier. I'm trying to help you!

Leia tried again to push away the touch, and she felt a sense of struggle as Mara maintained her contact. LISTEN! Mara 'shouted' through the Force. I know you don't trust me, but I really am trying to help you. This is the only way I can talk to you right now, so quit pushing! This is hard enough as it is!

Reluctantly, Leia stopped struggling, realizing that Mara was sincere. She tried to ask what Mara wanted, but couldn't quite figure out how to reply through the link.

You can learn how to project words later, Mara 'said' impatiently, apparently sensing her intent anyway. Get outside, somewhere with a lot of open space under you. Tell whoever that is next to you to see if she can find a defense cannon.

Leia repeated Mara's instructions to Malysa, who looked at her curiously. Tell her that when she sees the Falcon and Boba Fett's ship, she needs to try and cripple Slave I if she can, Mara continued.

Frowning, Leia realized what Mara and the others were going to try, and she hesitated for a moment, but again Mara reassured her of her sincerity. Leia relayed the former spy's instructions to Malysa, who nodded quickly and sprinted off after a quick farewell.

Leia moved on through the halls, looking for a way outside. She found a balcony after running through several more passages, relying on her newly manifested instincts, and as she emerged, she saw that she was right at the edge of the city, with only clouds below her.

She felt a sense of confirmation from Mara's presence in her mind, and just before the other woman 'spoke', Leia realized what she was about to ask her to do.

When I tell you, jump as far as you can.

With a grim determination, Leia realized there was no alternative. When the roar of spaceship engines reached her ears, she looked up to see the familiar shape of the Millennium Falcon soaring toward her position at incredible speed, the elongated upright oval of Slave I only a few hundred meters behind.

The Falcon maneuvered wildly, trying to avoid the punishing rain of red blaster fire spitting from Slave I, but the bounty hunter's vessel swooped closer all the time, easily keeping up with Han's ship. The shields crackled and hissed as they absorbed the blaster fire, each hammering bolt rocking the ship slightly.

Suddenly, a turret mounted on top of one of the cylindrical towers spat long green lances of fire at Boba Fett's vessel, and with astonishing accuracy, the bolts impacted at the exact place where the left stabilizer fin met the hull. The fin sheared off, spinning away in the wind, and Slave I spun out of control.


Malysa Kolos grinned in satisfaction behind the controls of the turret. Even with all the modifications the bounty hunter had made, Slave I was still a Firespray-class patrol ship, manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards. Her parents were technicians at the shipyards, so Malysa and her brother Tyraj had grown up around ships. She knew exactly where to hit a Firespray to incapacitate it, so the shot had been difficult but precise.

She was half-surprised she had actually made the shot, especially at this distance, but Malysa knew the Force had guided her hand.

Her mission accomplished, Malysa ducked out of the turret and melted into the crowd. By the time she met up with any Imperials, she would be ready to arrange her features into the appropriate amount of enraged determination to recapture Lord Vader's prisoners.

She would put on a convincing show, and no one would ever suspect what she had done. The coming months would be crucial, she knew, and the Rebellion would need all the help they could get against the sure-to-be enraged Emperor, who would undoubtedly step up his offensive even further.


Inside Slave I, Boba Fett wrestled with the controls of his ship as it tried to hurtle out of control through the sky. In the seat behind him, Darth Nova raged.

"They're getting away!" the Sith Lord screamed, his arm thrust out at the wildly spinning viewport. "Get your vessel back under-"

Nova cut off as Fett reached back and quickly, precisely, hit him across the face with his armored gauntlet, striking the furious young man in the precise place that would instantly knock him unconscious without doing any permanent damage.

Fett returned his attention to his ship, carefully adjusting controls as he looked for a good place to make a controlled crash landing. This was an unforeseen setback, and while Fett kept himself calm and in control now, he knew there would be plenty of time to be angry later. He would track down whoever had fired upon his ship and kill them as slowly and painfully as he could.

No one, no one, crossed Boba Fett and lived to brag about it.


Back on the balcony, Leia watched Slave I spin out of control for several long moments before finally righting itself. She could hear the engines straining from here, and as Leia watched, the hunter's vessel slowly dropped out of sight behind one of the huge white towers behind her, followed by a horrendous screeching of metal.

The Falcon swooped over to her balcony and, with a rumble from its powerful engines, slowly came to a hovering stop underneath her. The top hatch opened, and Leia caught sight of long red-gold hair flying in the wind as the lift brought Mara Jade out onto the upper hull, a cable clipped to a belt around her waist.

"Jump!" Mara shouted, both over the howling rumble of the Falcon's engines and through the Force.

It was quite a distance to the Falcon below. Leia could see Lando and Chewbacca nervously watching her through the cockpit as they edged the vessel as close as they dared; the wind made it difficult, and the slightest mistake would send the vessel crashing against the hull of the city.

Tensing her legs, Leia climbed up onto the edge of the balcony and jumped as high and far as she could. She was momentarily panicked as she realized that her momentum would not carry her far enough, but even as she tensed, an invisible hand caught her and changed the angle of her descent slightly.

Leia crashed into the waiting Mara with enough force to knock the breath from both their lungs, and she was stunned upon impact, unable to move for a moment as she slid down the Falcon's hull. But Mara managed to grab her hand, and they both were yanked away from the hatch by their momentum. The cable around Mara's waist jerked them to a rough halt, and Leia cried out, feeling like her arm was being wrenched out of its socket.

Her hair flying around her like a red-gold cloud, Mara met Leia's eyes, and Leia saw enormous relief mixed with apology in the other woman's gaze. She tightened her grip on Mara's hand, silently letting her know how much she appreciated what the former spy had done.

Whatever Mara Jade's motives had been while in service of Darth Vader, they were firmly in the past; now, she was just as much a Rebel as the rest of them, and Leia knew it.

Slowly, Mara hauled Leia back toward the hatch, crying out with exertion. The lift lowered swiftly, and once they were both inside, away from the howling wind, both of them looked at each other in mutual understanding.

"Luke," Mara said, and Leia nodded.

"We have to go back for him," she agreed.

"Can you tell where he is?" Mara asked, and Leia could sense her attempting to look for him through the Force.

It amazed Leia how quickly she was adapting to her newfound power; she wouldn't have believed she could do any of this even yesterday.

"No," Leia said as she and Mara went forward into the main hold. "But I'll try."

Mara nodded. "I'll help you."


Deep within Cloud City, in an enormously long and wide shaft, lightsabers blazed and crackled, the humming and sparking produced by the movement of the blades echoing off of the cavernous walls. The wind howled through the shaft, ruffling the hair and clothes of the combatants, and made balance on their dueling grounds precarious.

Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader crossed blades repeatedly, the Force surging and swirling through each of them as they moved at speeds far beyond the capabilities of normal human beings.

But neither man was a normal human being; each was filled with an astonishingly powerful current of the Force, flowing through them as both men tried their utmost to overcome the other.

Their duel had raged around most of the maintenance passageways surrounding Cloud City's central reactor, until finally, with a mighty surge of the Force, Vader had blasted Luke through one of the windows in the control room.

The Sith Master had followed, and now the two Skywalkers fought on a narrow metal walkway, a gantry jutting out from the immense podlike reactor.

Luke held his ground in the center of the span, his lightsaber whirling through intensely complicated patterns as he pushed himself to the limit in trying to defend against Vader's overwhelming onslaught.

Darth Vader was a master of lightsaber combat with nearly thirty years of practice, while Luke had only slightly more than ten. It was exhausting, moving his blade at these speeds, and Luke knew he could not hold out much longer. Vader, however, seemed to have boundless reserves of energy, and instead of slowing down, he was actually moving faster the longer the duel went on.

Eight times in the span of only one second, Vader slashed his blade against Luke's, pressing for any openings, any holes in the young warrior's defense. His face was grimly expressionless, set in concentration as the Dark Lord continued his merciless onslaught.

Luke braced his legs and opened himself fully to the Force, feeling his arms move almost by themselves to block each one of the strikes. Vader paused for just an instant too long in his next attack, and Luke whipped his lightsaber over to take advantage.

His shining blue blade nicked the shoulder of Vader's uniform, burning the flesh beneath, before the Sith Master was able to deflect the blow and force Luke's blade away from himself.

Vader backed up a step, taking one hand off his blade as he gathered the Force, but Luke went on the attack, slashing his lightsaber down in a powerful sweeping diagonal strike. Vader blocked, but Luke had already changed the angle of his blade, sliding it along Vader's scarlet blade for a moment before suddenly reversing directions to swing from the other side.

Luke knocked Vader's blade aside and, in the same motion, grabbed hold of the railing on one side of the walkway and swung both feet up and out. Both of his boots hit Vader solidly in the center of the chest, and the Sith Master stumbled backwards, landing heavily on the metal grating a few meters away.

In the midst of Luke's charge, Vader threw up his organic hand and sent a powerful burst of Force Lightning screaming out at his son. Luke caught most of it on his lightsaber, and he could hear the hilt whining as the power pack strained to compensate against the energy surge.

With that pause, Vader leaped to his feet in a long jumping slash, his lightsaber gripped in both hands. Luke spun aside, and Vader's blade sliced through the railing with a shower of sparks.

Vader continued the wild, sweeping blows as he advanced, shearing off more of the railing with each step. Luke had to retreat, unable to block the incredibly forceful blows. Vader demolished more of the walkway as he pressed ever forward, rage twisting his features. His natural eye was a burning shade of yellow now, and even his glowing blue photoreceptor seemed to shine brighter with the force of his anger.

Luke could hold out no longer, but even as his back pressed against the end of the railing, he tried to fend off the flowing slashes, trapped with nowhere else to go.

Darth Vader twisted his ruby blade suddenly in a way Luke was unable to counter, and he screamed in agony as the tip of Vader's lightsaber sliced through his forearm above his wrist. He fell back against the end of the walkway, cradling his arm, and tried to fight his way past the fiery pain.

Vader stopped suddenly, holding his still-activated lightsaber in one hand as he seemed almost abruptly to calm down. His face was expressionless, but as Luke watched, his burning yellow eye slowly faded back to blue. He went very still, not even blinking, and he might as well have been a statue looming over Luke, his long cloak flapping in the wind.

"It is over," Vader said finally, his voice forceful. "You are beaten!"

Breathing heavily, Luke slowly crawled backwards, still not willing to give up.

"There is no escape," Vader said grimly. "Don't make me destroy you."

Luke reached the extreme end of the walkway and pulled himself under the railing, slowly edging along the narrow metal span that led to a large vane-like structure, part of the reactor. Luke was unsure of its function, but at the moment he did not care; all that mattered was getting as far away from Vader as he could.

He jammed the stump of what was left of his right arm into his left armpit, trying uselessly to comfort the burning agony that seemed to lance through his entire body. Luke held on to the vane-like structure with his left hand, feeling the cold metal beneath his fingertips.

Vader shut off his lightsaber and advanced to the end of the walkway, placing one hand on the railing as he stretched out the other. "Luke, come with me," he implored. "There is much we can accomplish together. With our combined strength, we can put an end to this destructive conflict and finally bring order to the galaxy." He stretched out his hand even further, easily within reach of Luke, should he choose to take it. "Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."

"That's all you care about; power!" Luke retorted. "You don't want me to join you because I'm your son, you want me to join you because of what I can do!"

Vader shook his head slightly. "No, son. That isn't true. I want us to be a family. We can be a family, with your help."

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked warily, shifting his grip on the narrow metal ring encircling the vane upon which he hung, his feet perched precariously on the base.

"Have you never wanted to meet your mother?" Vader asked, leaning even further over the railing.

"She's dead!" Luke shouted back. "She's dead because you killed her!"

Vader smiled slightly, as if he knew something Luke did not. "That doesn't matter," he said quietly, difficult to hear over the wind. "Death is powerless against me."

Luke stared up at his father incredulously. Had he gone insane? What was he talking about?

"My Sith Master's Master, Darth Plagueis, found a way to use the Force to prolong life, to cheat death," Vader said. "He even found a way to create life where there was none." His natural eye widened with excitement, and even his photoreceptor glowed slightly brighter behind its patch-like lens. "I found out how he did it. It has taken me twenty years of study, but I have finally learned Darth Plagueis' secret for myself." Vader gestured boldly. "I have returned the dead to life!"

Luke's eyes widened in horror, afraid of what his father would say next.

Vader grew serious. "My experiment lasted only briefly, though," he went on. "The process is too complicated for me to sustain by myself." He looked down at Luke fervently. "That is why I need your help, son; you are just as powerful as I am. With your sister aiding us, we can bring your mother back to life!"

His father's face was pleading now, and he stretched out his hand again. "Please, Luke," Vader said imploringly. "Please help me with this. As a family, we can rule over this galaxy and finally bring it into an age of peace. That is all I want. That is all I have ever wanted; to see a final end to all of these pointless wars! Together, we can make this happen!"

Vader's offer was very tempting. Luke dearly wanted to know his mother, to actually speak to her himself, to have a real family finally. He released the metal ring he had been clinging to and slowly reached out his hand, closer and closer to Vader's.

But when their fingertips were barely brushing, Luke stopped and pulled back. "No!" he shouted up at his father. "No, I can't!"

Surprising Luke, Vader's face twisted with emotion; he was genuinely hurt by this. "Why not?"

"Because I've seen too much!" Luke replied. "I know what you would do with Leia and me. You would bring Mother back to life, yes, but after that, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself. You're consumed with the quest for more power! Having all that power at your command would be too tempting, and you would just sink further into the Dark Side and pull us with you. I won't let you do that to Leia!"

"You're wrong!" Vader shouted back, his hands clenching around the railing. "All you know are Obi-Wan's lies! You don't know me at all!"

"No, Father," Luke said calmly, relaxing his grip on the metal vane. "I know you only too well. I won't be your pawn, and I won't let you make my sister one, either. I will never join you."

With that, he stepped into the endless nothing and let himself drop.


"Luke!" Leia said suddenly, sitting bolt-upright in the navigator's chair in the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. Next to her, in the seat behind Chewbacca's, Mara looked over at her with the same emotion crossing her own face.

"Luke's in trouble!" Leia said, leaning forward. In the pilot's chair, Lando looked back at her, his expression grave. She could tell that he was curious about how she knew, but believed her.

"Where?" he asked.

Leia thought for a moment, concentrating on her tenuous bond with her brother, and suddenly she flung out an arm and pointed.

"There!" she and Mara said together, both sensing his location.

Lando hauled the Falcon over and followed their directions, accelerating.


Luke fell.

The wind roared in his ears, buffeting him as he tumbled down the long reactor shaft. The walkway, where his father stood watching him, seemed to fly up and away from him with astonishing speed.

As he fell, Luke was caught in the stream of one of the intake vents along the edge of the enormous shaft, and he was sucked in, helpless to stop or even slow himself down.

He hit the smooth metal tube of the intake valve hard and slid out of control, tumbling over and over until he finally hit the bottom, where the vent intersected with another.

Luke tried to get up, unsure of how he was going to get himself out of here, but even as he managed to get his feet under him, the floor of the shaft opened up beneath him and sent him tumbling down another vent, unable to grab hold of anything with his one remaining hand.

With another heavy, painful impact, he reached the end of this new shaft, and the hatch beneath him immediately opened. Luke slipped out into open sky, nothing but pink clouds beneath him, and he dropped for a heart-stopping moment before he finally managed to grab onto a weather vane mounted on the underside of the city.

He felt the vane creak ominously under his weight, and knew it wouldn't hold him for long.


"There he is!" Mara said, pointing between Lando and Chewbacca at a tiny moving shape far above on the underside of the city.

Lando carefully maneuvered the Falcon beneath the shape, but even before he had begun slowing down, Mara was out of her chair and down the passageway, headed straight for the lift connected to the top hatch.

Leia was only a step behind her, and as they reached the lift, Mara grabbed the belt and cable she had used earlier while Leia went for the medkit; they could both sense that Luke was gravely injured, though Mara wasn't sure where.

She ignored the protestations of her own injuries as she positioned herself on the lift and hit the controls. Mara ascended through the first hatch and then the second, readying herself, and as soon as she could see outside, her eyes locked on Luke, who was clinging to a weather vane several meters above.

Lando and Chewbacca brought the Falcon to a stop, slowly hovering upwards. Mara could make out more detail the closer they got, and she soon realized with horror that Luke's right hand had been cut off. He had numerous other burns on his clothing, as well, and his hair was soaked with sweat. She knew then that he had been through a battle just as terrible as her own today, if not worse.

When Luke saw her, he loosened his grip on the vane. Mara stretched out her arms and caught him as he dropped, hitting the lift controls immediately. In the confined space of the lift tube, as it lowered, Luke's blue eyes sought out her own, and Mara felt a questioning probe of her mind through the Force.

Nodding slightly, she silently confirmed his inquiry, letting him know everything, without reservation, in a flood of images. She felt a sense of hurt at her true identity and former motives, but it was followed by acceptance of who she was now, the choice she had made today.

Luke embraced her, letting Mara know he forgave her, and she had to fight back tears for the second time that day as she realized this, deeply moved. She put her arms around him comfortingly.

The lift finished its fast descent into the ship, and immediately after both hatches had closed, Mara felt the Falcon's powerful engines rumble as Lando accelerated, taking them away from the city at the freighter's top sublight speed.

With a screaming roar, a full squadron of TIE fighters soared after them in pursuit.


Admiral Piett watched as Darth Vader swooped into the bridge of Executor, his long black cloak flaring out behind him.

Piett was momentarily startled by the Sith Master's arrival; the Emperor's shuttle had confirmed docking only a few minutes before. Lord Vader must have been running if he had managed to get up here this fast.

But the Dark Lord showed no signs of being out of breath as he advanced along the command walkway to where Piett and Grand Admiral Thrawn waited.

"Where are they?" Lord Vader said as he came to a stop next to the commanders.

"They've just left the atmosphere, my lord," Piett reported. "We are moving to intercept, so they will be in range of our tractor beam in moments."

"You are sure the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon has been deactivated?" the Sith Master asked, turning his gaze on Piett.

"Yes, my lord. Immediately after they were captured," Piett replied.

"Good," said Vader. "Prepare a boarding party, and make sure their weapons are set for stun."


After making sure both Luke and Mara were secure under the care of Winter in the Millennium Falcon's tiny infirmary, Leia hurried back up to the cockpit.

The Falcon shook with laser fire as she took her seat, and Leia looked up as Chewbacca roared something irritable at Lando.

"If they said they fixed it, they fixed it!" the gambler retorted. "Just get the coordinates locked!"

As Chewbacca programmed the navicomputer for their hyperspace jump, Lando swerved the Falcon from side to side, dodging the blaster fire of the pursuing TIEs.

Leia gripped the arms of her chair, desperately hoping the escape worked. If Vader caught them, it would mean death for all of them except her and Luke, whose fate would be worse.

Leia, her father's voice 'said' within her mind. Leia recoiled, but was unable to pull away from Vader's touch. Leia, you must come with me, Vader 'said' imploringly. It is your destiny.

She could sense Luke nearby, and that he was hearing a variation of the same thing, so she extended her support to her brother even as she drew strength from his returning touch.

But between Leia's inexperience and the excruciating pain clouding Luke's mind, they were unable to offer much resistance to Vader's terrible will. She felt as if their joined will was as a wall of sand being ruthlessly battered by the incoming waves, eroding a little more with each new blow.

Chewbacca finally barked triumphantly as the navicomputer flashed, indicating its readiness, and he leaned forward and threw the hyperspace lever.

But nothing happened.

In unison, both Leia and Chewbacca turned accusing glares on Lando Calrissian, who spluttered with objection.

"It's not my fault!" he exclaimed.

Chewbacca howled in anger, gesturing wildly at Lando.

"It's not my fault!" he said again, on the edge of panic. He turned and swatted the bulkhead next to him, growling, "I can't believe this! I trusted them!"

Chewbacca irritably shoved Lando aside as he left the cockpit, headed back for the hold.


R2-D2 paused in fixing his golden-plated friend as Chewbacca came storming into the hold, snarling to himself as he grabbed his box of tools.

"Oh, no, we're doomed!" Threepio exclaimed. "The hyperdrive still isn't working! The Empire will catch us for sure now!"

Chewbacca angrily roared at Threepio to shut up as he yanked open the service hatch for the hyperdrive. He immediately went to work, his tools clanking as he hurriedly checked the systems.

Artoo whistled thoughtfully to himself, suspecting the cause of the malfunction. With a determined beep, he set off for one of the other panels as fast as his wheels could take him.

"Wait, come back!" Threepio called to him, holding up his one remaining unattached leg. "You haven't finished fixing me yet!"

Artoo ignored him, whistling again as he headed for the panel. Threepio somehow managed to follow him, protesting all the way. "How could you possibly know what's wrong with the hyperdrive?" he demanded.

The little droid answered him as he set to work, moving with all the speed his electronics could give him.

"Cloud City's central computer told you?" Threepio said, finally coming to a stop next to him. "R2-D2! You know better than to trust a strange computer!"

But Artoo ignored him, still working furiously. A few meters away, Chewbacca struggled with a panel in the service pit, growling to himself. The stubborn panel refused to budge, and so with a savage growl, the Wookiee gripped his tool like a club and bashed the panel violently.


Up in the cockpit, a shower of sparks erupted from an overhead panel, and Lando hurried to put it out before it could ignite anything, leaving the flying to Leia for a moment.

Leia rolled the freighter, dodging the torrent of laser fire coming from their pursuers, and winced as several of the bolts hit them anyway. Vader's presence in her mind was a constant distraction, and Leia fought to keep her thoughts from clouding under the Sith Master's influence.


Finally, Artoo finished his work in the hold and twisted his manipulator arm one last time. The whining coming from the bowels of the ship suddenly changed in pitch and became a powerful rumble.

The Millennium Falcon shot forward with a sudden surge of acceleration, and with a shriek, the off-balanced Artoo went sliding uncontrollably across the deck, where he rolled into the service pit and landed on the surprised Chewbacca.

"You did it!" Threepio shouted joyously, but then he cried in alarm as he toppled over as well.


In the cockpit, Lando also lost his balance in the surge of acceleration, but he whooped as he saw the stars outside blur into lines and then twist into infinite streaks of light.

"We did it!" he crowed.

Leaving its pursuers far behind, the Millennium Falcon leaped triumphantly into hyperspace.


On Executor's bridge, Admiral Firmus Piett felt like his stomach had sunk to somewhere about the level of his knees.

This was it, he knew. He was about to die for this, and in all likelihood so were the majority of the other officers on the bridge.

But surprising them all, Lord Vader remained still and silent, staring at the blackness of space outside where the Millennium Falcon had been moments before. He clasped his gloved hands behind his back over his cloak, his expression unreadable.

He turned, and Piett tensed again, but Vader walked past the admiral like he wasn't even there and left the bridge, his cloak gently billowing out behind him as he strode through the door.

Beside Piett, Thrawn watched the Emperor leave, his expression also curiously unreadable. Finally, he turned back to Piett.

"Ready the flagship, Admiral," he said. "Prepare to rejoin the fleet."

Piett looked over at him, still in shock, and Thrawn shrugged fractionally.

"They escaped this time, Admiral," he said simply. "There is no point in wishing otherwise."

Piett nodded slowly, then got to work.


-/\-


Author's Note: An epilogue follows, to be posted tomorrow. Thanks for reading!