Chapter 21: Hard Landings

Three ships emerged from hyperspace and approached the atmosphere of the planet Dagobah.

As he neared the planet, Han Solo was able to glimpse a portion of its curved surface through a heavy cover of thick clouds. The planet was uncharted and virtually unknown. "Why would the Grand Master of the Jedi hide here? Cause no one in their right mind would come lookin for him in a dump like this." Han answered his own question.

Beside him, Chewbacca rumbled something. "Ok, ok… don't get your fur all bunched up. I know you're excited to see Yoda again… jeez, it's like I've never saved your life before either." Han said. Chewbacca looked at him with a huff, but Han held his hands up defensively. "Just kidding! Just kidding!"

Behind him Olee leaned over his shoulder. "This is Dagobah? Now even I wonder why Yoda chose here."

Standing in the cockpit near the hatch, Obi-wan Kenobi answered. "It is because Dagobah is a balance point in the Force. Long ago, when Yoda was young, he destroyed a dark jedi here. The resultant release of dark side energy left its mark permanently on the planet, creating a perfect balance of light and darkness. A Jedi cannot be detected here."

"Pretty smart." Han said, re-evaluating the old Jedi Grand Master. He clicked his comm. "Hey Leia, you lead the way, Het, stick close behind us."

"No worries Han." Leia said, sounding a little timid. "Follow my engine trail."

Het's excited voice came over the comm next. "I'm right behind you, Captain."

Han grinned at that. Captain Solo… not just captain of the Falcon… but a Captain officially.

Olee put her hands on his shoulders and he smiled. "Let's take it in for a landing."

Then Han's day went worse. "Do you think there are life forms down there?" Threepio asked in a frightened voice.

Han checked the scanners. "I'm not picking up any cities of technology. Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there."

Threepio was now officially worried. "Do you think its safe for droids?"

"Yes, I'm sure its perfectly safe for droids. Either shut up or shut down!" Han exclaimed. Threepio chose the former, but not before saying "How rude."

Han smiled a cocky half grin. Picking on the golden droid was now a pastime.

----

Leia Skywalker 's X-wing sailed through the twilight halo separating pitch black space from the planet's surface. Leia took a deep breath and then plunged her craft into the white blanket of mist.

She couldn't see a thing. Her vision was entirely obstructed by the dense whiteness pressing against the canopy windows of her ship. She heard over the comm from Han. "Hey, whoa… can't see a thing back here! Change your vector, you two! I don't wanna run into you, Leia, and I don't wanna be ran into by you, Het!"

Leia changed her approach vector by ten degrees… she could feel her connection with little Het as he pushed his ship down ten degrees. "Ok, vector changed.' She said over the comm. She had little choice but to control her X-wing solely by instruments, but the scopes weren't registering anything, even as Leia flew even nearer to the planet. Desperately she worked her controls, no longer able to discern even so much as her attitude.

When an alarm began to buzz, Red joined its clarion call with his own frantic series of whistles and beeps.

"I know, I know!" Leia shouted, still fighting the controls of her ship. "All the scopes are dead! Han, do you have anything?"

"All our scopes are negative! I'm gonna start the landing cycle… lets just hope there's something underneath us!" The Corellian said over the comm.

Little Het closed his eyes and trusted the Force. He turned his ship just a little to the left, and whipped past the Falcon towards dry land. Leia followed him, narrowly missing a huge swamp tree, and slapped on her repulsors. She bottomed out four meters from the swampland below her.

'Whew."

Unfortunatly, her X-wing canopy and Red were splashed by a huge wave of swampwater. Red squealed his outrage at the indignity. She heard Han Solo cuss in as many languages as he knew… including some he made up.

The Millennium Falcon had crashed into the middle of a bog.

"Well, we're here." Han said after a moment, trying to calm down. "You Jedi better be able to wipe up some kind of trick to get my ship out of here… or we're gonna be here for a while."