Chapter 16

Han stumbled out of the turbolift and into Vader's personal hangar. Chewbacca, ever faithful, was waiting for him. He was not sure when Stormtroopers would follow. All he knew is that he did not want to press his luck against Vader's legions again. The Wookiee escorted him to the Millenium Falcon.

"We need to wait for Luke," Han said as Chewbacca led him up the boarding ramp. "He'll know what to do. I'm just not as young as I used to be."

Yoda rejoined Luke on one of the lower balconies of Bast Castle. The ancient Jedi Master was obviously exhausted from his confrontation with Darth Vader. "A dark day, this is," he said.

"Leia's gone to redeem Vader," Luke told Yoda. The frantic nature of his voice was unbecoming of a Jedi, but he was not going to leave his sister to the dark side. "She's going to get slaughtered if we don't help her."

Yoda sighed. "Lost to us, she already is," he said sadly.

"No!" Luke shouted, waving his right hand in front of his body. "I won't accept it! She is my sister!"

"And your father, Darth Vader is!" Yoda affirmed. "Have time for this, we do not! A Jedi is known for his commitment in the darkest of times. The true test of the Jedi, it is."

"I'm sorry, Master Yoda," Luke said. He ached at his failure to redeem Leia. It tore a wound deep within the Jedi Knight. Dread came with accepting that he had failed his sister. "I failed."

"Incapable of failure, a Jedi is not," Yoda lectured. "But if on failures you dwell, consume you the dark side will. Now, signal the Falcon so leave this dark place, we can."

Luke grabbed his comlink and contacted the Millenium Falcon. "Han, do you read me?" he asked.

"This is Lando," the former administrator of Cloud City responded. "What's your position?"

"Fifth floor," Luke answered. "Hurry up before they figure out where we are."

"We're coming," Lando said. "Just hang on."

Moments later, the Millennium Falcon arrived at the fifth level balcony and the boarding ramp dropped. Luke lifted Yoda onto his back before leaping onto the ramp. He took one last look at Bast Castle before stepping into the ship.

Luke and Yoda arrived in the cockpit to find Lando and Chewbacca at the controls. Yoda leapt into one of the seats and applied his crash webbing.

"Lando, we're going to have to deal with the fleet," Luke said as he took his place next to Yoda.

Lando glanced in Luke's direction. "Don't worry," he told the Jedi Knight. "My technicians fixed the hyperdrive back in Cloud City. We should have no problem getting out of here."

"That's if the Empire didn't tamper with it," Luke said.

Lando returned his attention to the controls. "Let's hope not."

The Millennium Falcon passed through the atmosphere and into the sights of Imperial Star Destroyers stationed at Vjun.

"Chewie, angle the deflector shields and plot us a path," Lando ordered.

"They won't fire on us," Luke said. He sensed no danger in the Force.

Yoda looked to Luke. The two Jedi shared a silent worried exchange.

Done, Chewbacca said.

Lando pulled the lever back to initiate the hyperspace jump. Without a pause, the Millennium Falcon successfully jumped into hyperspace, leaving Vjun behind it.

Vader's personal shuttle landed in one of the landing bays of the Executor. Two Sith Lord walked down the boarding ramp. An officer waited for Vader at the bottom of the ramp to receive orders.

"Inform the Admiral to prepare to travel to Imperial Center," Vader ordered.

The black uniformed officer bowed and responded, "Yes, milord." He left Vader and Apostas alone with the Stormtrooper honor guard.

Vader turned to his daughter and said, "Prepare yourself for your trial."

"Yes, Father," Apostas acknowledged.

The Millennium Falcon was docked with Home One, her crew at various places on the Rebel cruiser. Luke and Yoda were with the leaders of the Alliance in a private conference room, discussing the unfortunate turn of events. Yoda briefed them on his confrontation with Darth Vader and Leia's turn to the dark side, sparing no details as he spoke.

After he finished, Ackbar said, "The Rebellion is finished. Leia knows many of our secrets."

Mon Mothma was the one who was most visibly shaken. "If she has rejoined the Empire, our job will become more difficult," she said. "All we have gained since Yavin will be negated once she divulges important intelligence to the enemy."

"So what will we do?" Luke asked.

"The only thing we can do," Crix said sadly. "We have to evacuate to another location and change our codes."

"But what of Rebel agents spread far and wide?" Yoda asked. "Lose them, we will if such a drastic course of action we take."

"We have no choice, Master Yoda," Ackbar affirmed. "The Rebellion is more important than any one agent."

"Where will we go?" Luke asked. "Most of our bases will be compromised now."

"Locate to the Unknown Regions, we should," Yoda recommended. "Located there, a secret planet known only to the Jedi Council is. Found by the Prodigal Knight, it was."

"We know almost nothing of the Unknown Regions," Mon said. "We are likely to come across Imperial survey expeditions."

"Still, it may be our best option for now," Crix admitted. "We will need to send as many evacuation orders as we can. Hopefully, we can all make it to your rendezvous, Master Yoda."

"So do I," Yoda said.

Han retreated into seclusion aboard the Millennium Falcon, his only companion being a bottle of Corellian whiskey. He could not live with his failure, so he fell back into old habits from his smuggling days. It seemed as if every woman Han loved either left him or betrayed him.

Han would survive as he always had. He needed no one except the faithful Wookiee that followed him. He kicked back in his seat and tried his best to deal with his sorrows.

Han looked up to see Lando entering the cabin. "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed that his old friend would intrude on his ship.

Lando picked up the whiskey bottle and read the label. Lando said, "This is some pretty hard stuff to drink straight, Han."

"I don't need a lecture, Lando," Han said. "First it was Bria and now Leia. I seem to fall into the trap of love quite easily, but I can't hold onto it."

"What do you really want in life, Han?" Lando asked.

Han finished off what he had in his glass and replied, "I don't know anymore. I can't go back to smuggling. My love life is in shambles. I've got nothing except my ship and Chewie." He held out his glass for Lando to refill it, but his friend refused.

"Come on, Han," Lando said. "You're too old to be doing this to yourself. We're not kids anymore."

"What's it to you?" Han questioned. "You made your point on Cloud City."

"I didn't have a choice, Han!" Lando exclaimed. "What did you expect me to do?"

"If you hadn't betrayed us to Vader, Leia wouldn't have gone crazy!" Han growled. "It's all your fault, Lando!"

"Don't pin this on me, Han," Lando said, trying to maintain a sense of calm. "It's the Empire's fault and you know it."

Han growled before hurling his glass across the cabin. It shattered when it impacted the wall and the smuggler slumped in his chair. "I hate it when you're right, Lando," Han said.

Lando sat across from Han and told him, "I'm joining the Rebellion. You have a place here if you want it."

"I guess there was no way out for me once I met Luke," Han grumbled. "I owe him for getting me off Vjun."

"Looks like we'll be working together again, you old pirate," Lando said. He flashed his friend a smile.
"It'll be just like old times," Han said. He was not smiling, but he at least felt like he had a purpose again.