Chapter 35- Millennium Falcon Chase and Arrival
A/N: The chapter heading is also used for Lego "Star Wars" on the first part and I thought it was apt in that regard.
Lena's relief was short-lived. As soon as they broke Hoth's atmosphere, they basically ran into a Stardestroyer. With the cold prickles in the Force, running up and down her spine, it didn't take long to figure out that Vader wasn't that far behind. It also didn't take long for the Imperials to start shooting at them either. Lena dug her fingers into the canopy overhead as the ship rocked like the waves of Kamino.
Chewbacca growled and huffed in obvious frustration. "I saw 'em. I saw 'em," Han said shortly, his eyes on his console.
"Saw what?" Leia asked in a perturbed voice.
"Stardestroyers. Two of 'em coming straight at us," Han said Lena and Leia both looked up and saw two figures getting larger through the viewport in front of them.
"Sir! Sir! Might I suggest-" Threepio started to say, coming into the cockpit.
"Shut him up or shut him down! Check the deflector shield. Great. We can still outmaneuver them," Han barked at Leia and fiddled with controls that caused them to spin in stomach-twisting maneuvers. Lena had to stretch out through the Force just to calm her nerves down. The bright side was that Vader's men would be just as nervous.
"There is no fear, there is the Force," Lena said to herself, quoting the maxim that Talon had drummed into her for as long as she could remember.
"Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed," Han said.
"But, Sir!" Threepio almost whined loudly.
"They're getting closer," Leia said.
"Oh, yeah? Watch this," Han said, pulling back on a toggle in front of him. Something then sputtered and died. Lena looked over at her cousin, who looked as stunned as Lena felt.
"Watch what?" Lena and Leia both asked.
"I think we're in trouble," Han said, almost casually.
"If I might say so, Sir, I noticed earlier the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It's impossible to go to lightspeed," Threepio said, distress in his mechanical voice.
"We're in trouble," Han said, getting out of his seat, followed by Chewbacca and leaving Leia and Lena to fly the ship.
"He would know how to fix the hyperdrive, would he?" Leia whispered to Lena.
"I may not be as clever with technology like Luke, but I would think so. With Vader breathing down our necks, Han should," Lena said. At that moment something large, banged into the ship, causing a scream of pain from Han.
Lena froze at the sight of asteroids filling the viewport.
'Han, get up here!" Leia ordered sharply through the communicator on Han's console.
"Come on, Chewie!" Han yelled and came into the cockpit.
"Asteroids," Leia said simply as Han sat down.
"Oh no," Han muttered as he pressed buttons.
"Is that all you can say?" Lena said under her breath.
"Chewie, set two-seven-one," Han said, an order Lena had doubted that she heard right.
"What are you doing? You're not actually going into an asteroid field?" Leia asked in shock.
"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" Han asked, as they dodged the asteroids.
"You don't have to do this to impress my cousin, you know," Lena said, feeling rattled with each moment and the Force not doing much to calm her nerves.
"Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1," Threepio said, unhelpfully.
"Never tell me the odds," Han said caustically as they dodged a huge boulder and Lena started to hear explosions from the tie-fighters behind them as they didn't maneuver quite as well as the Falcon. Of course it didn't help that boulders were coming at them and Threepio was panicking.
"You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake. This could be it, sweetheart," Han said, his eyes glued on the asteroids.
"I take it back. We're going to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer," Leia said.
"Ain't gonna argue with that," Han said/
"Pulverized?" Threepio asked, a hint of despair leaking into his mechanical voice.
"I'm going in closer to one of the big ones," Han said as if Threepio hadn't said anything.
"Closer?!" Leia, Lena, and Threepio all asked at once as Han went to one that was the size of a small moon and went down a trench, two tie-fighters hot on their tail and firing. Lena heard multiple explosions as the tie-fighters crashed into the walls of the trench.
"Oh, this is suicide! There's nowhere to go," Threepio wailed.
"There. That looks pretty good," Han said, pointing at a spot on the viewport.
"What looks pretty good?" Leia asked as Han went to the spot,
"Yeah. That'll do nicely," Han said as he lowered the Falcon.
"Excuse me, Ma'am, but where are we going?" Threepio asked Leia. Leia looked at the droid as Han lowered the Falcon into a hole in the asteroid.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Leia said apprehensively.
"Yeah. Me too," Han said absently.
Talon had just woken up from his nap when the x-wings came out of hyperspace. Dagobah was a dismal planet. Considering how out of the way it was, it was fitting that his old Jedi master would come here.
"Yep, that's it. Dagobah," Luke said to Artoo's inquiring beeps.
Talon stretched out with the Force. There was plenty of lifeforms, but only one felt intelligent and that one was probably Yoda. "No, I'm not gonna change my mind about this," Luke said, getting a dry chuckle out of Talon.
"Luke, I'm not picking up any cities or technology," Talon said. He might as well keep up the pretense that he didn't know Yoda until they met Yoda. He could say that he knew Yoda back when Talon had been a Padawan learner, but he had no idea this was where the old Jedi master had come after the Jedi Purge.
"But there are massive life-form readings, though, Uncle. There's something alive down there," Luke said.
Don't disagree, Luke, Talon thought as Artoo beeped.
"Yes. I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids," Luke said with a trace of humor as the x-wings entered the atmosphere. Talon felt his vessel shake as it impacted the wind. Artoo beeped wildly.
"I know! I know! All the scopes are dead. I can't see a thing. Just hang on. I'm going to start the landing cycle," Luke said as he and Talon flew their x-wings through the mists and landed with a splash.
Talon looked around at the swampy landscape as he and Luke got out of the x-wings. The air smelled of moldy leaves and decay and was a little on the chilly side. The water, that came up to Talon's chest was just as chilly as the air and Talon heard many different bugs and quite a few growls. Artoo beeped and Luke looked at him. "No, Artoo, you stay put. I'll have a look around," Luke said and removed his helmet. Something rocked Luke's x-wing, knocking the tiny astromech into the water.
"Artoo! Artoo! Where are you? Artoo!" Luke yelled and Artoo's scope popped out of the water.
"You be more careful," Talon said with a huff of exasperation.
"Artoo, that way," Luke said, pointing in the direction opposite from where Artoo was going.
Luke jumped down into the water and Talon grabbed his hand, helping him out of the murky water. "Thanks, Uncle," Luke said.
"You're welcome," Talon said as Luke turned in time to see Artoo go down and a black snake-like object slither through the water.
"Artoo!" Luke shouted, pulling out his blaster as Talon pulled out and ignited his lightsaber.
Luke and Talon both ran to the edge of the water as Artoo went flying with a loud scream out of the water. They followed the droid's trajectory and followed as it landed in an unceremonious heap. "Oh, no," Luke said as he and Talon straightened the droid.
"Are you all right?" Talon asked. Artoo beeped an affirmative.
"Come on. You were lucky to get out of there," Luke said with a grunt as he made sure Artoo was standing on his treads.
"Anything broken?" Talon asked, resting a large hand on Artoo's dome. Artoo beeped a negative.
"If you're saying coming here was a bad idea, I'm beginning to agree with you. Artoo, Uncle Cail, what are we doing here? It's like something out of a dream or... I don't know," Luke said as he picked pieces of mud off Artoo.
"Don't disregard the Force when you see a vision, Luke. I've learned since I was a Padawan to be aware of the living Force. Obi-Wan Kenobi's old master Qui-Gon Jinn was very fond of saying that. He told me that when I was the same age as your father and me and my master were with him and Obi-Wan on a mission before Obi-Wan met your father," Talon said.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just going crazy," Luke said as Artoo spat out a stream of muddy water.
"No, you're not, boy, but you are going to have to learn that for yourself as the Force works in mysterious ways," Talon said, squeezing Luke's shoulder in a comforting gesture like he had his own sons when they were alive.