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Chapter Seventeen: Escape from Rondirak 12
The Polar Carp was being bombarded by blaster pistols and laser rifles. Jalleck had quickly sealed the doors after the wookiees had finished boarding, but they had not been fast enough. A few of the elderly people who had come up from behind had been shot, and they were in danger of bleeding to death. Qualle, Rixxi and Sal helped Woolonn and Chakreech to drag the elders into the healing bay, where Marney had been staying throughout his ordeal.
He knew that the time had come for him to get his backside up off his berth and give it to the more recently injured casualties. TT2 brought him a hover-chair from the storage room and aided him to move into it. He tried his best to help the young people administer first aid, but to his shame he found that he was quite simply in the way.
TT2 briskly ordered him out of the healing bay, and he felt as though he were completely useless. He managed to maneuver his way onto the bridge, where Lyna was conferring with Jalleck and Han Solo.
"I hope you people are ready to roll," Han's voice rang out over the intercom, "because we need to get out of here now...Tarkin's bound to bring in a few reinforcements."
"Ready to go, Captain Solo," Lyna concurred, "We're tied to you, after all."
The engines roared and groaned as the Falcon and the Carp took off in tandem. The intercom was kept operational so that the two ships could coordinate their efforts. They heard Chewbacca roaring as they hurdled into the sky, accompanied by Yabecca and a crowd of other wookiees.
"I don't know about you guys, but we're packed like sardines in here," Han called out, "stuffed to the gills with fur-ball wookiees. I hope that damn fish is waiting for us when we get into space."
"He'll be there," Stormy reassured Han, taking off his bucket-like helmet, "Don't worry so much, Solo!"
Marney was shocked to see that Stormy had boarded their ship and was here with them. His once-obscured face was now revealed to be that of a dark-skinned human sporting the wisp of a moustache.
"You're fired if he's not, Lando!" Han replied gruffly.
Stormy/Lando turned towards Marney and held out his gloved hand.
"Hi, Captain Raddek," he said, "My name is Lando Calrissian. I've been working with the Traders' Guild for some time now...for a hefty fee, of course. I have a bit of a way with mercenaries, so I don't think that most of them will be giving us a hard time. If I've been successful in communicating our mission to the Rebel Alliance, then I believe one of your friends should be waiting for us when we get up there."
"Uh...yeah, right, Stormy...I mean, Master Calrissian," Marney stammered in complete surprise, "Thanks for kidnapping TT2 and doing my job for me. My father should fire me and hire you instead."
"I'm glad to have been of service," Lando told him jauntily, "I thought the Alliance might appreciate a hand, given that you folks didn't sound completely confident in your spying capabilities when I listened in on your conversations. Everything did not unfold completely according to plan for me either: I actually hadn't counted on a wookiee rescue until I met up with Han and Chewbacca. Luckily, the rebellion fit pretty well into our plans—with a few minor adjustments."
Lando's tale was interrupted by a blast to their side.
"Lyna!" Marney cried, floating his hover-chair over to her command seat, "What's going on?"
"It's an Imperial fighter squadron," Lyna reported, "and we are like sitting ducks out here."
The Millennium Falcon took a blast from the other side, and they could hear Han Solo swearing angrily.
"Now would be a good time, Lando!" Solo growled menacingly.
Lando motioned to Lyna to bring up the rear-viewing screen, and out of it they saw a fleet of Rebel gunships moving in on the Squadron. The ships fired on the fighters and sent them scattering like leaves in the wind.
"Merchant ships Falcon and Carp," came the familiar voice of a mon calamari, "This is Commander Gial Ackbar of the Rebel Alliance. Get in between us, and we'll escort you into hyperspace. Your mission has been accomplished, and the mercenary fleet will accompany the rest of the Wookiee rebels to Kelmoon."
"I hope we can trust the mercenaries, Gial!" Marney shouted into the intercom, "They've been bought out by a double-dealing smuggler-spy, after all."
"We have no choice, Captain Raddek!" Ackbar replied huskily, "We need to get them out of there now, before the base blows."
"Blows?!" Marney echoed his cousin incredulously.
"I also installed a remotely controlled explosive device, which I hid within the localized force-field, when I used TT2 to insert the info-chip into the central control panel," Calrissian explained in a serene manner.
"Thanks a bunch for letting us know, Lando," Solo grumbled, "I always thought you'd make a better spy than a smuggler."
As they moved into position and prepared for the jump into hyper-space, they saw an Imperial vessel speeding off in the opposite direction, and Marney surmised that Tarkin and his gang were on it. Meanwhile, a whole flotilla of mercenary ships appeared behind them. They could only hope that the Traders' Guild had bought them out and that the rest of the wookiees were aboard those ships.
A call came forth from one of the lead vessels, and it was directed towards the Millennium Falcon.
"Captain Solo!" cried the voice of Ex-Moff Malken Mokk, "Please tell the rebel commander that I've decided to join the Alliance, and I'm bringing all my men and the wookiees with me. Moff Wilhuff Tarkin has promised to feed me to a crime-lord's rancor if he ever catches me!"
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a huge explosion was seen from the planet below.
"Prepare to jump into hyperspace on my mark," Ackbar instructed them, and within seconds they were propelled away from Rondirak 12.