Final Approach

Old Ben Kenobi sat in the main hold, thinking of the gruesome horrors Luke must have faced already at the hands of the Emperor.

Oh Luke, am I too late? Can you forgive this old man for not being there when you needed me most? He sighed. I will come for you—I promise. I will never allow anything to happen to you.

I won't lose you like I lost him.

The good in you is pure—uncorrupted. I can only hope that I am not too late.

"Well, you don't have to worry about those Imperials chasing us, anymore," Han Solo said, as he entered the main hold, waking Obi-Wan from his thoughts.

Obi-Wan only looked at him and rose, revealing his lightsaber and spotting the training remote on board the vessel.

"Don't everybody thank me all at once," the smuggler said sarcastically.

Moments later, Chewbacca entered the hold.

Activating his sapphire shaft of energy, Obi-Wan blocked the weak bolts the remote sent his way.

"A lightsaber, huh?" Solo said after a few moments of watching the old man impressively block the bolts. For an old man, he sure could block all those blaster bolts.

"Yes, a civilized weapon from a civilized time. It's elegant and precise, not crude and random like blasters."

Solo could only smile. "Not to me, old man; hokey religions are no match for a trusty blaster at your side."

After another moment, he looked at the Jedi and had to say what had been on his mind. "You seem to know how to use that thing. What are you, a Jedi or something?"

"What if I said yes?"

"Then those Imperials chasing us would make sense."

"And if I said no?"

"Then I guess it doesn't matter to me—the money would more than make up for lost causes."

Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt as he paused and looked at the young man before him. "Money will only stay in your hand long enough for it to disappear. In the end, you'll be left with nothing."

"At the end, as long as I've got my life to hang on to and my ship—then that's fine by me," he grinned.

Chewbacca let out a growl as he waved his hands up and down.

"Oh, and Chewie too," he added.

Before the older man could mouth a reply, a klaxon roared throughout the hallways.

"Looks like we're here," the man said, moving towards the cockpit with Chewbacca and Obi-Wan trailing along. As he sat in his seat, he tapped several keys and looked back at the old man, forming a lop-sided grin that was undoubtedly his signature smile. "Seems everything is in the clear, old man."

Obi-Wan nodded silently, his eyes shifting over towards an unusual moon that appeared near the planet. It seemed to be a moon that should never have been there.

Suddenly, another signal began to beep repeatedly, as Chewbacca let out a short growl and tapped the key.

"Wait," Han began, "there's something coming out right behind us."

In small blinding flash covered the cockpit, as another one followed quickly, before the whine and screams of an Imperial TIE fighter shot past the freighter.

"What's a short-range fighter doing here?" Obi-Wan mumbled.

"Well, whatever he's doing, he's not going to be around long enough to report us to somebody," the smuggler replied, tapping several keys as he turned to Chewbacca. "Jam his frequency."

The wookiee complied, and shifted a small lever.

The fighter continued to loom ever closer towards the moon as the freighter struggled to keep up, eager to keep its location hidden.

Within the cockpit, a dark silence loomed about as they continued tracking the fighter.

After a moment, a sullen thought occurred to the wizened Jedi Master. "That fighter is in deep space to be out here alone."

The smuggler gritted his teeth, hiding the agreement he had with the Jedi. "Well it seems to be heading for that small moon," he replied, "Chewie, see if we can head him off."

The wookiee replied and continued tapping several controls.

As the freighter began to veer closer towards the moon, hoping to intercept the fighter, the orbiting sphere began to reveal a perfectly non-cratered surface, as a giant smoothed depression revealed itself, with a small focal point in its center.

The horror and realization of the moon began to dawn on the older Master. What have I just led them into? "That is no moon—it's a battlestation," he warned, hoping the pilot would agree.

Han gaped in horrifying awe as he confirmed the Jedi Master's statement. "I think you're right. Chewie, lock in the auxiliary, I'm going to pull us around." As the pilot began to shift the yoke, the freighter began to gyrate and lurch helplessly against the powerful gravitational forces that pulled the vessel in.

"Why can't we leave?" The old man asked, knowing full well why.

"They've got us locked in a tractor beam," Solo replied, desperate to tap every control and think of every possible way to remove the Falcon from the Empire's grasp. He looked at the computer's readouts, angry that the vessel wasn't responding. "Chewie, lock in the auxiliary!"

The wookiee grumbled and continued pulling the lever.

Obi-Wan put his hand on the pilot's shoulders. "Leave it, they're going to pull us in."

"Well I'm not leaving without a fight," Han muttered defiantly.

Obi-Wan knew that if it came down to that, they wouldn't leave the battered freighter alive and all would have been in vain. He whispered, albeit with more than eager persuasion, "there are alternatives to fighting."

His anger somehow abated, he powered down the consoles and muttered, "yeah, you're right."

Klaxons blared in its drawl, repeat fashion throughout the hangar, warning the crew of the Death Star of an incoming freighter. Soldiers raced to and fro, as they readied themselves and watched in anticipation as the freighter finally landed within the austere and polished ground of the hangar.

An officer looked at a junior officer, clad in the same dark clothing, as he ordered, "inform Lord Vader that we have an unexpected guest."

Author's Notes: Short, simple and straight to the point. I know this one was rather short, but there will be ones that are longer. I have finally completed all of my exams and now I am free, FREE! So with that said, expect a bit more regularly updated chapters in this fic, and I would like to thank those of you kind enough to wish me the best during my exams. I hope you enjoy more of my fics to come--especially this one.