Chapter 35: Heavyweight Contenders

"Sure she looks pretty, but I'm sure she flies like a ton of bricks."

Han wasn't too impressed with the new ship in the hangar, or at least it was new to him anyway. It was one of the Zeta class shuttles captured by the rebels, its four wings retracted into an upright position, the main section surprisingly well armored for a cargo hauler. This one had been refurbished since its capture, more armor attached to the front cockpit and underbelly, weapon ports attached in various places, and a new shine and polish given to the hull. This ship looked like it could take a beating and dish it out just as well, though Han could imagine all the problems likely to be found inside.

"Is there a reason you buffed this ship into oblivion?" Han asked, looking at the general beside him.

Through still disheartened by the defeat at Hoth, General Rieekan continued to put everything he had into the rebellion. "Your ship is becoming a bit too recognizable. You're going to need something a bit more discreet where you're going."

"Uh-huh, discreet," Han said. "Let's see how long that lasts."

Han went inside this seemingly tough little ship, getting a firsthand view of the insides for himself. At first glance everything seemed to be in good condition, if a bit cramped in places that were not very important. But when he took panels off and looked at the parts underneath he started seeing problems, namely that someone incompetent had put things back together after the refurbishing. All sorts of parts and components were left unsecured, placed in weird positions that left empty and unused space, used unnecessarily expensive hardware for the job, or some combination of all of the above.

Having just a few hours before a scheduled departure, Han got to work fixing up the ship as much as he could. He brought Chewbacca aboard to help him out, and they could at least get the ship somewhat to their liking. They used several engineering tricks they'd acquired over the years of smuggling cargo, increasing system efficiency through bypassing safety restraints, streamlining power flow by removing excessive regulators, and other jury-rigging tricks that may or may not be safe. Han was finishing work on the cockpit when more people arrived, and he quickly put everything back together again.

It was early in the afternoon by then, and Han saw the two teenagers coming aboard the ship. "Is there a reason you two keep getting paired up with us?"

Standing just inside of the ship, the lower level that led into the cockpit, Aang and Katara could just smile at Han. Aang leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Maybe Leia just likes to see you suffer. That's my best guess."

"Sounds like her," Han said. He sighed and pinched his nose. "What are we getting into this time?"

"We're supposed to give you this," Katara said, handing over a pad. "I believe they are new orders."

Han accepted the pad and looked over the data within, confirming that they were indeed orders. As he had figured when the general put him on this cargo ship, Han was supposed to fly it into enemy territory. What he hadn't realized was that other ships would be accompanying him, a whole new squad set up in haste just for this mission. Not just ships too, but soldiers to be carried and deployed on some world held by the Empire. Even now the first of those soldiers were coming aboard the ship, finding a place to sit or stand during a flight.

Similar cargo ships spread across the fleet were being similarly filled with soldiers, all of them getting ready to leave once the signal to depart arrived. None of them were fit to last long in a space battle, but if things went according to plan they wouldn't need to fight in space. The people inside mentally prepared themselves for the mission, checked their weapons and gear, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Idle conversations were minimal in most of the ships, the people not wanting to talk about what they were going to be doing.

Right when they were about to leave, someone else arrived at Han's ship. "Room for one more?"

"Hey kid," Han said, turning to see Luke coming aboard. "This must be really important if her royal highness is sending you along."

"Good to see you," Aang said. "How are things back on Dagobah?"

"Fine when I left," Luke answered. He picked a spot in the cockpit and started putting on a wall mounted harness. "Yoda wasn't happy about it, but I think I made the right choice."

"Well he can have you back later," Katara said. She was sitting next to Aang in the second set of seats in the cockpit, right behind Chewbacca in the copilot's seat. "I for one, think you're better off with us."

"And I have no idea what you guys are talking about," Han said. He saw a signal arrive in the controls, and he started to fly the ship. "Never mind, it's time to go."

The cargo ship lifted off the floor and turned around, flying toward the hangar doors as they opened. Once it was out and in open space the ships wings were lowered into proper position, pointing down and away from the ship just like imperial shuttles. The ship flew away from Home One and the rebel fleet in general, meeting up with all the other cargo ships doing the same. Han's ship got to take point in the formation, leading the dozen ships taking part in the mission. They faced the same patch of stars, nav computers making the same calculations, and one by one they made the jump to hyperspace.

"Who gave the order to deploy those ships?"

Mon Mothma had been coming out of a meeting when she entered the bridge, doing so just in time to see all the captured cargo ships heading out into hyperspace. It seemed that she was left in the dark about the mission those ships were sent on, and there were only two or three people in the rebellion that could have arranged for this oversight. Fortunately one of them was already on the bridge, and she seemed to take a lot of pleasure in Mon Mothma's bemusement. Leia was standing in the corner looking at her, the smile plain for all to see.

"You wanted to go on the offensive," Leia said. She crossed her arms and leaned back. "You got it."

Mon Mothma couldn't argue with that, and she looked at the main viewscreen to the patch of stars those ships had been aimed toward. "Where did you send them?"

"There was a request for help on an imperial world," Leia said. She walked over to Mon Mothma and handed her a pad with all the details. "It looks like as good a place to strike as any."

Reading through the data on the mission, Mon Mothma nodded. "Well then… let's hope this insurgency on Carida is worth it."

The trip through hyperspace lasted half a day, and everyone inside the cargo ships got some rest along the way. Everyone was ready by the time they arrived, going over the plan in the last few minutes one more time, doing their best to calm their nerves. One by one the ships emerged from hyperspace, returning to the black void of normal space. There was a planet in the distance, barely bigger than a marble from this distance, larger than many had expected. That was a testament to how big this planet really was, and why imperial regulations required ships to approach from so far away.

Already there was a signal coming from imperial ships in orbit, and a particularly bored voice came through the transmission. "Cargo ship convoy, identify yourselves and state your purpose here."

Han was ready for it, and he played the role of a convoy leader. "This is the cargo ship Tiberius, leading Delta Convoy on a supply run to Carida. Transmitting confirmation code now."

This was the first test of the mission, hoping that the codes they used were still valid. It helped that they had been intercepted the day before, and that there actually was a convoy scheduled to come here, if it weren't for a very convenient delay elsewhere. As far as the imperials here could be aware of, this was the convoy that was supposed to be here today. They seemed to be taking their time processing the confirmation codes, being through in making sure everything was in order, each second lasting an eternity for the rebels waiting for the go ahead.

But after a few minutes the bored imperial officer responded. "Confirmation code accepted Tiberius. Supply depot thirty-one is ready to receive your cargo. Sending landing coordinates now, do not deviate from this flight path. If you need to make an emergency landing, avoid the southern jungles at all costs."

"Thanks for the heads up," Han said. "Tiberius out."

Once the transmission was over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The convoy continued on its way toward the planet, passing by imperial patrol ships along the way. Soon the planet filled the view ahead of the convoy, and they got to see the few Star Destroyers orbiting Carida. Standard orbit was much higher here than on most worlds, and the pull of gravity took hold much earlier than the norm. That was to be expected on a terrestrial planet nearly twice the typical size, with the intense gravity well to match.

Flying into that gravity well required far more caution and care than usual, lest one make a mistake and get the ship torn apart. Han knew what he was doing and didn't have a problem, but a few of the rebel pilots struggled with the task, but did not fail at it. They gradually descended toward a military base in the northern continent, and they could see the tops of jungles far to the south. The ships stayed on their assigned course, and soon several landing pads came into view, surrounding the several dozen buildings that composed the imperial supply depot.

Despite still being several kilometers above the surface of the planet, the pull of gravity already surpassed the artificial gravity inside the ships, and they started feeling heavier than usual. Everyone had been warned about this sensation ahead of time, but only firsthand experience could truly prepare them for it. It was only going to get worse from here, and they hoped they wouldn't have to stay in it for very long. When the ships came in for a landing it seemed like everything was double the normal weight, and mobility was inhibited by limbs that were harder to move around.

And yet Aang was feeling good despite the extra weight. "Boy, you guys weren't kidding about this place. It's going to be hard just to move around."

"You're going to want to watch where you step," Han advised. He remembered the few times he had been on worlds like this, never staying longer than a few hours at a time. "If you trip you're guaranteed to break something important."

"Good to know," Katara said. She slowly turned her head toward Aang, noticing the growing grin he had. "Are you feeling what I think you're feeling?"

The ship touched down with a loud thud, and Aang planted his feet firmly on the floor. "Yes I am."

"Don't be too hasty with the kung fu magic powers," Han ordered. He unbuckled his seat's harness and slowly stood up, turning around to see everyone else do the same. "We're only going to surprise them once. I'd rather not blow our load too early."

"Right," Aang said. He slowly stood up, taking care not to trip over himself. "I'll wait for your signal."

Outside the ship there were imperials approaching, all in lightweight worker clothes for noncombat duty. They were bringing several hover dollies to the ship, ready to unload the supplies promised for this base. They had no idea what was actually inside the ship, expecting this procedure to go as it always did. The same was going on around all the other cargo ships that landed around the base, just another day for the people that worked in this heavy hellscape. When the hover dollies were in position the workers signaled the ships, expecting them to open up for unloading.

The doors opened up, and the workers only had a second. "What the…"

Rebel troops opened fire, two dozen blasters for every ship, cutting down the workers before they could react. The rebels came out of the ships and fired at every imperial they could see, clearing out the space around the landing pads within a few short seconds. From there they charged toward the base from several directions, crossing the short paths before the alarm went off. There were several doors for access to the various buildings that composed the base, all locked when the alarm sounded, and the rebels proceeded to attach explosives to the doors.

"Fire in the hole!"

The explosives were detonated, a chain of explosions rang through the base, and the doors were blown to bits. Debris fell to the ground faster than usual, given the high gravity pulling it down, limiting the collateral damage inflicting on the interior. Once the way was clear the rebels invaded the buildings, shooting at imperials responding to the alarm, making progress bit by bit. Amazingly, there were only a small handful of stormtroopers around, easily disposed of by the rebel troops, their bodies pushed to the side so that no one would trip on them.

Escorted by their group of rebel troops, heading into the largest of the buildings of the base, Han and Luke were giving orders and directing the advance. Aang and Katara were right behind them, ready to bend when the need arose, but haven't needed to yet. This building appeared to be a small command center, and as such it had the most stormtroopers to defend it, yet still only a couple dozen of them. They were easily dispatched by the rebel troops, Han and Luke getting a few shots in, but otherwise disposed of without any real difficulty.

When they reached the center of the place, Aang was looking around at all the control consoles scattered about the large room. "Okay, we're here. Now what?"

Han went for one of the consoles, left online when its user had been shot down, and started looking through a database on it. "Now we look up the local resistance, find out where they are relative to here, and hope your friend is still with them."

"How long is that going to take?" Katara asked.

"Sounds like a while," Aang assumed.

"Got it," Han said, surprising just about everyone. "They're actually… oh wow, not all that far away. No wonder there weren't many stormtroopers here, most of the garrison is off on the front lines."

"They couldn't spare more people to defend this place?" Luke wondered.

"To be fair, they weren't expecting an attack here," Han said. "If it wasn't for your friend we probably wouldn't even know a resistance was here at all. Otherwise we wouldn't have bothered."

"Okay then," Katara said. "Where do we go?"

"South," Han said. "We'll need to hijack some rides."

To that end, a signal was sent out to the other rebel groups, and they all made their way to the base's vehicle garage. They took whatever supplies they might need along the way, keeping the weight to a minimum wherever possible. The different groups converged on the garage from various angles, discovering that it had been locked down already. The answer to that problem was more explosives, and new entrances were blasted open. The few imperials inside tried to shoot back, only to get shot down by the rebel troops on their way inside.

Inside the garage were a few dozen speeder bikes and a lot of empty space, likely meant for armored hover tanks deployed to the front lines. The first rebels inside took the time to lift the lockdown and raise the garage's main doors, permitting the speeder bikes to leave the building. The rebels paired up for each speeder bike, hotwiring where necessary, and taking off one bike at a time. No one dared to engage the throttle to maximum here, where one small mistake could lead to a fatal crash, especially since there would be so many things to crash into on this planet.

Aang rode passenger with Luke driving a speeder bike, Katara on the bike Han took, riding in the middle of a wide formation. Chewbacca was on his own speeder bike and bringing up the rear, no one willing to ride with the wookie. They travelled away from the base and into the forest to the south, passing by the stunted trees along simple dirt paths. Everyone kept their eyes on the path ahead, taking care to avoid anything that could possibly be an obstacle, as well as other dangers. It was a surprisingly short trip, despite the slow speed they travelled.

Looking ahead, Aang spotted something in the distance. "Something's going on up there."

"Yup," Luke said, seeing the same thing. "That looks like a fight."

A long line of imperial forces were directly ahead, men and machinery forming a barricade against aggressors beyond. A long swath of forest had been cut down to accommodate them, the dense trunks of fallen trees adding to the strength of the defense. Hundreds of blasters and other assorted weaponry were being fired forward, shooting at something the rebels couldn't see during the approach. The imperials didn't turn to look when they heard the speeder bikes approaching, instead simply responding on the radio with a basic complaint.

"It's about time you guys got here! We really need the help!"

"They think we're reinforcements," Han said.

"They think wrong," Katara said.

Making sure to use rebel frequencies, so to not be heard by the imperials, Han gave the order. "Close in to point blank and open fire."

The rebels accelerated toward the imperials, got ready to make a hard turn, and primed the blasters mounted on the speeder bikes. At the last second they opened fire, blasted the imperial line from behind, and swerved to avoid crashing into them. A single volley decimated the imperial line, all their defenses facing the other way, wiping out a wide swath of stormtroopers and assorted machinery. The imperials only had a moment to scream before they were gunned down, and the survivors responded with a shocked silence.

But then a few rebels misjudged the turn, lost control of their speeder bikes, and crashed into the shot up remains of the imperial line. Their screams were short and quickly silenced, bodies mangled and broken and strewn amidst the dead imperials. There was no time to mourn for their loss, something to be done after the battle had passed. Now there was only the fight to consider, and there was a moment to exploit the added confusion the crashes provided. The remaining rebels turned their bikes around for another attack run, aiming for parts adjacent to the damaged section of the imperial line.

By now the imperials realized they were under attack from both sides, scrambling to adjust their defense accordingly. The fortifications and heavy weaponry were all aimed in one direction, and could not be easily turned around. It was up to stormtroopers and handheld blasters to turn around and shoot at the rebels, the heavier weaponry still firing at the foe on the other side. Stormtroopers hit a few of the speeder bikes with their blasters, and the resulting crashes hit the imperial line, inflicting even further damage.

A stray shot hit Luke's speeder bike, right behind where Aang was sitting, and he barely kept control of the vehicle. "Hang On!"

Aang felt the bike start to spin, and he looked down to see the ground coming up bit by bit. "Jump!"

The speeder bike tipped and the back end hit the ground, the snag making it flip end over end. Aang was already jumping off, and he was slightly flung away as the bike crashed and burned. He summoned the wind to soften the fall, to limited effect thanks to being so heavy, and it still hurt a lot when he tumbled across the ground. Nothing broke, though Aang was certain he'd be sore in the morning, assuming he made it to morning after all of this. He saw the speeder bike break apart into dozens of pieces, somehow still exploding at the end of the crash into a big fireball.

And then Aang saw Luke make a graceful landing, lightsaber flashing on and deflecting blaster bolts every which way. "Now that's hardly fair."

The other speeder bikes went by and made their second firing run, drawing imperial attention away from Luke and Aang. But the distraction lasted only a few short moments, and when the rebels were heading away the stormtroopers turned their attention to the remaining threat. Still split between fighting forward as well as back, and only basic blasters shooting at two targets. Luke's lightsaber was reflecting blaster bolts back where they came from, and several stormtroopers fell to their own shots in a few short moments.

Aang wasn't about to let Luke have all the action, so he punched the ground to earthbend. Dirt and rock exploded upward, a long line of shattered soil stretched away from him, hitting all the stormtroopers and knocking them off their feet. The line kept on going, slammed into the imperial fortifications, tearing them apart as the foundations disintegrated. And it still kept going, far beyond what Aang intended, causing far more destruction than that move should have done. It brought a stop to all the fighting in the immediate area, just to stare at the sight before everyone.

Luke turned toward Aang, turning off his lightsaber. "That's… impressive."

Suddenly there was a large earthquake, further damaging the imperial line, and nearly knocking Aang off his feet. "Okay, that wasn't me."

Colossal spikes of rock jutted up from the ground, spreading out in two distinct lines, tearing up the imperial line in both directions. Everything built atop the ground was torn apart, nothing was spared from the stone stampede. And then everything went still, and silence reigned in the jungle around Luke and Aang. Then there were footsteps, slow and heavy, dozens approaching the two men left standing. Aang closed his eyes and stomped a foot down, looking to see without seeing, wishing he had better practiced this technique his earthbending teacher had tried to teach him.

What he found shocked him. "How…"

"You're gonna break your leg doing that here Twinkletoes!"

Both men turned toward the voice, though only Aang recognized it. "Toph?!"

Appearing alongside a few dozen other people, it was the master earthbender that Aang remembered. He hardly recognized her at first, needing a moment to process the way Toph looked. For one thing she had shaved off all of her hair, leaving barely more than fuzz atop her scalp. The tight green clothes she wore covered the bare essentials and a little bit more, leaving muscular and well-toned arms and legs exposed. Not to mention her skin was absolutely clean, none of the coating of earth she always said was healthy for her. Only the glazed over eyes were the same, something that never mattered to Toph.

Aang ran across the shattered imperial line, as fast as his heavy legs would allow, stopping in front of the girl still barely shorter than him. "Toph… How… Why… What…"

"Long story," Toph said. "We can catch up once we're out of here. I presume your friend has a ship nearby that we can use?"

"Several, actually," Aang said. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, back toward the imperial base. "We should probably leave sooner rather than later. I assume Sokka's with you? He's the one that sent the message that brought us here."

"I sent him ahead with the rest of my spies," Toph said. "I just need to have someone send a signal to tell them where to go."

By then Luke had walked over to the group, observing the conversation in front of him. "I presume you two know each other?"

"We go way back," Aang said. He turned towards Luke, looked past him for the rebels on speeder bikes. "We're going to need a new ride. Can you call up Han and get him back here?"

"Yeah, sure," Luke said. He took out a communicator and transmitted on a rebel frequency. "Han, we're going to need every bike we've still got. Our local rebellion is here, and they need transport."

There was a moment's hesitation, but then Han's voice came through. "We'll be back in a bit. It's hard to turn these things around here."

"Or I can just do this," Toph said. She used earthbending to raise a mound of dirt beneath her feet, wide enough to lift everyone around her, and made it move forward at a reasonable pace. "Just point the way."

"Okay…" Luke muttered. He got back on the communicator. "Scratch that Han. We'll meet you back at the base for extraction."

At this point in his life, Sokka had given up on finding a rational explanation for what was going on.

After being Earth's main representative to a faction of space rebels, being stranded in the spirit world for what felt like eternity, then winding up in a place where everything was heavier than it should be, it was too much for him to make sense of it all. There was no reason for his exit from the spirit world to drop him off on any particular planet, much less one that had contained a friend for the better part of a year. He could imagine Aang trying to explain that with some spiritual mumbo jumbo, connections between friends influencing the nature of the spirit world, as if that would somehow explain everything.

Now he stood beside several short and muscular men and women, adapted to living on this heavy hellhole of a planet, struggling just to move around. Although it was tempting to leave behind his space sword and space shield, Sokka was never going to abandon the two things that had stuck with him through everything. He had them sheathed and on his back respectively, yet even there it was workout just remain standing. Sokka had no idea how Toph tolerated this place, despite the cosmetic changes she had made to shave off every last ounce of weight she could possibly remove.

In front of him was an imperial base, seemingly ransacked by whoever was in the cargo ships that had landed recently, and occupied only by the dead bodies left behind. Sokka and the small group had come here after receiving a signal from Toph's group, once they had learned exactly where to go for to get off this oversized rock. The cargo ships appeared to still be in working order, albeit not fit for combat by any means, meant for hiding in plain sight on the way here. Getting out was going to be difficult, no matter who would be flying the ships.

Sokka heard noise from the south and slowly turned his head that way. "That must be them."

A couple dozen speeder bikes were inbound, a little worse for wear but otherwise functional. A few of them were overburdened by an extra passenger, the weight nearly enough to make the speeder bikes drag against the ground. There were a few wounded among their number, mostly minor wounds resulting from blaster bolts, the dead being left behind. They were heading into the imperial base at a cautious pace, mounted blasters at the ready and firing at the slightest bit of movement, though it was unnecessary at the moment.

Then Sokka saw a large and moving mound of dirt, and he felt somewhat relieved. "Okay, there she is. Let's get down there."

It was slow going getting down to the base, having to walk when a single misstep could break a leg. So in spite of being far closer than the other two groups, they were the last ones to arrive. When they arrived they found the speeder bikes scattered around the base, abandoned next to the landing pads and their riders heading into the ships. Sokka saw Toph heading for one of the ships, though he didn't recognize anyone else from here. He walked in her direction, expecting her to notice him long before he got to her, and she certainly did.

"About time you got here," Toph said.

"Sorry I took so long," Sokka said, being a little winded from the walk. "It's hard to move quickly here."

"I know," Toph said. She took a few steps toward the closest ship. "Hey Twinkletoes, is everything ready in there yet?"

Recognizing the nickname, Sokka's mood greatly improved. "Aang's here!?"

His voice was heard inside the ship, and the next second the teenage airbender came out. "Sokka!"

They met in the middle and shook hands, glad to see each other in the flesh. "Good to see you on this side. I see you got my message."

"Yeah," Aang said. They let go, and he turned around to poke his head back inside the ship. "Katara, get out here."

Before Sokka could say anything, Katara emerged from the ship. "Sokka! You're okay!"

She ran over to Sokka and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing a bit too tightly in the hug. "Ribs… watch the ribs…"

"Sorry," Katara said, pulling away from her brother. "It's just that after everything, I've got to make sure it's for real this time."

"I get it," Sokka said. He felt a tear roll down his face, and he smiled as he wiped it away. "I'm really sorry for the whole slicing off your hand thing."

Katara looked down at her wrist, flexing the fingers that she was grateful to still have in the physical world. "It's fine. You've been through a lot, more than I want to know."

"You can make up later," Toph interrupted. She pointed her thumb back into the ship. "We need to get going while the going's good."

Inside the ship and at the controls, Han was prepping the ship for takeoff. "We're almost ready to go. Wait… hang on… we've got bombers inbound. Crap."

Toph ran over to a clear spot, and she stood with her feet wide apart and fists held low. "Point me."

Half a dozen of her local rebels hurried to Toph's side, standing a dozen feet away and forming a circle with Toph in the middle. They spotted the imperial bombers in the distance, and each pointed a finger at them and followed their path through the sky. Toph judged the distance based on the moving fingers, calculated where the bombers are and where they would be, and waited for the right moment to strike. The bombers were nearly on top of them when the moment came, and Toph stomped her feet and raised her fists to earthbend.

The ground shattered and dozens of boulders flew upward, hurled in an arc high above the base, ascending despite the high gravity working to pull them back down. Enhanced earthbending got the boulders high enough, and then let gravity take over as the bombers swooped in. They tried to swerve out of the way, but it was too late for most of them to dodge. The boulders came down and slammed into them, the kinetic force enough to tear the bombers apart, and the pieces fell to crash all around the base.

The impacts could be felt for miles, and even inside the ship. Han was understandably concerned. "What the hell was that?"

"Me," Toph bragged. "I got them all in one shot."

Sokka pointed at one bomber still in the air. "You missed one."

That imperial bomber continued on its way, flying over the base and dropping its payload. Several bombs fell down onto the base, exploding on impact with buildings and ships alike, leaving half a dozen craters scattered around the place. One of the cargo ships was destroyed, the rebels inside killed with it, their remains scattered across the immediate area. The imperial bomber didn't dare turn around, its pilot not wanting to end up like his comrades, retreating back to the ship it had been launched from. It did its job, and wasn't going get wrecked in a second pass.

"Let's go before they send more of them," Aang said.

Everyone climbed into the remaining cargo ships, overloading them beyond their carrying capacity, but that limitation was promptly ignored. Han and Chewbacca worked on the assumption that weight limits were merely guidelines, deliberately set on the low end to allow situations like this. There weren't enough seats to go around, and Luke stood in the center to give his seat to Sokka. Toph claimed the seat Aang was going to take, certain that she was going to be miserable throughout the ride. Katara and Aang stood next to Luke, holding onto something as the ship started to rumble.

"Are you sure we can still take off?" Katara questioned. "We're a lot heavier this time around."

"It'll hold," Han promised. He finished the takeoff preparations, and steadily throttled the engine. "Here we go."

The ship struggled to lift off the ground, the metal straining under the load, but it did ascend bit by bit. Everyone inside was rattled during takeoff, and anyone prone to motion sickness promptly threw up. Once the ship was in the air Han engaged the throttle to maximum, and the ship launched forward and upward into the sky. The other ships followed Han's ship away from the base, struggling to ascend with acceptable speed, fighting the planet's deep gravity well for every meter. It was taking everything the ships had to make the trip into space, but eventually the blue sky turned into the starlit black void.

The pull of gravity subsided with altitude, and the artificial gravity inside the ships was set to normal levels. It was a great relief to everyone inside the ships, no longer burdened with twice their normal weight, but their troubles weren't over yet. Sensors reported Star Destroyers inbound, approaching from several directions, all staying in high orbit to avoid the planet's immense gravity. TIE Fighters were being launched and flew on intercept courses, dozens for every cargo ship trying to leave, closing in them like a swarm of crow-bees.

"Hang on!" Han said. He made the ship swerve to the left, and everyone inside was thrown to the right. "This is going to be close!"

The TIE Fighters swooped in and opened fire, their blasters shooting at every possible target, the bolts crisscrossing in space all around the cargo ships. Some of them hit their targets, damaging the cargo ships bit by bit, and the hulls wouldn't last for long. The only way out was a jump to hyperspace, but there was no time to plot a course. Pilots made the jump anyway, not caring where they might end up, as long as it was anywhere but here. A pair of ships exploded in the attempt, their engines damaged by blaster fire, exploding when their hyperdrives engaged.

Han saw those ships exploding, and he engaged the hyperdrive anyway. "Rough ride coming up! Say your prayers now while you still can!"