Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. Please don't sue.
A/N: Sorry about the wait everybody! Hope you all enjoy and please review
Ties Ch.13Dr. Theeon looked at Lando as though he had sprouted a second head and Luke had to admit, he wasn't feeling any more confident with his friend's plan. Unfortunately, a Star Destroyer coming out of hyperspace left them with no other alternative. Lando's plan basically called for them to rig the ship like a flying bomb, so the Imperials couldn't fire any shots at them without risking destroying the New Republic ship entirely. What made the idea so suicidal was that they couldn't fake the rigging or bluff because the Imperial scanners would be able to tell the difference. Their survival depended entirely on the hope that no one would attempt to shoot at them.
Lando finished his adjustments to the ship's circuits then looked up at the tense faces around him. "O.K. listen carefully everyone. I'm going to have to contact the Imperials to let them know what the deal is. Hopefully, they'll immediately contact their buddies on the planet so that we won't have to worry about civilians shooting at us. So they know we've really got the Grand Admiral's baby brother onboard, and alive, I'm putting him in the copilot chair," Lando looked at Theeon. "Tied up and gagged, naturally."
"Oh, yes, naturally." Theeon said dryly. The alien doctor stood calmly and allowed Luke and Wedge to start tying him into the co-pilot's chair. "Please make sure you tie the binds tightly, you wouldn't want a violent brute like myself to get loose."
Luke started chuckling. Wedge rolled his eyes, "Do you pull this kind of guilt trip on your brother?"
Theeon opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Lando, who was just finishing his adjustments to the ship, "Sorry to cut the fun, but junior needs to be gagged now, the Imps are trying to contact us."
Wes handed Luke some bandages from the med bay and Luke quickly wrapped them around Dr. Theeon's mouth. Moments later came an irritating beeping sound and Lando pressed a few buttons in response. The flat screen revealed a face very similar to Theeon's, but Luke could instantly see the differences as well. There was something about the new alien's face that told Luke he was significantly older than Dr. Theeon, though Luke found it almost impossible to judge either's age. The difference between the two aliens was stronger than just age, there was a hard and icy coolness surrounding the elder alien absent in the doctor. The crisp whiteness of the Grand Admiral's uniform seemed to magnify the aura of coldness that seemed to surround him, yet Luke caught a fleeting glimpse of relief in Grand Admiral Thrawn's eyes when he saw his brother. The moment was gone almost instantly and Luke could tell the others hadn't caught it before Thrawn's eyes narrowed to slits of red hot metal.
"Well it's certainly nice to see you up and around, Grand Admiral, we heard some terrible things about your health recently." Lando's voice was casual but Luke could see the tension around his eyes.
The corners of the admiral's lips curled upward, ever so slightly, "Your warm sentiments are most touching, Calrissian, I'll enjoy extending this little conversation when you are brought onboard my ship."
Luke watched as the Star Destroyer's hangar opened and began spewing Tie fighters. He gave a subtle gesture to the Rogues, informing them to go to the gun turrets. Ideally, they wouldn't have to fire a shot, especially considering the way the ship was rigged but if it did come down to a fire fight they'd have to do their best to keep the Ties from blasting them to pieces. Luke turned his attention back to the conversation.
"I'd call your fighters off admiral, the last thing you want them to do is fire any shots at us." Tension was beginning to creep into Lando's voice but he managed to keep his cool.
"My fighters are well aware of the hostage you are carrying, Calrissian. It will be easy enough for them to incapacitate your ship without injuring anyone inside." Thrawn gave a thin, spine-chilling smile, "That part will have to wait until we meet face to face."
"Have you ever heard of a 'Suicidal Gambler's Escape,' Admiral?" Lando asked.
Thrawn's eyes narrowed, "What foolish trickery are you up to now, Calrissian?"
"Before you have any of your fighters shoot at us, I suggest you ask a couple of your underlings to scan our ship…" Lando trailed off. The Grand Admiral gave the orders and turned his chair so that Luke and the others could only see the back of his chair. Several tense, silent minutes drifted by as everyone waited for the result. Suddenly the chair turned around swiftly and Luke could almost feel the admiral's eyes burn into him, despite the space between their ships.
Lando's face seemed to relax a little and a smirk touched his lips, "It must really be eating at you that the men who blew up both the first and second Death Stars are sitting on a flying bomb right in front of you and there's nothing you can do about it."
Luke was very glad the Grand Admiral was not a Force user, because just the look on the alien's face was almost stopping his heart. However, Luke didn't allow the distraction to prevent him from scanning the computer for possible hyperspace routes. The admiral had clearly informed the Ties not to strike, for they were now flying out to surround their freighter, just far enough away to be out of the path of the freighter's blaster turrets. Creating a route around them would be tricky. Luke noticed too that the Star Destroyer was very carefully turning…it took him a second to realize why but when he did he whispered from the console he was standing beside to Lando.
"They're maneuvering to put us in line with their tractor beam! We've got to get out of here!"
Lando moved to the controls, "Well it was nice chatting to you and all…"
"Oh no, Calrissian, please don't leave just yet," Thrawn's voice now dripped with exaggerated politeness. "I do believe you would enjoy discussing the pros and cons of suicidal escape tricks…One con would be that rigging your ship as a bomb has a tendency to damage electrical systems and with the right energy signals, say from a subtly adapted communications signal, it can throw off sensors quite nicely. For example, you'll soon notice that our ship is significantly closer than you think…"
Lando slammed the communicator off and then jerked the ship's controls. "Luke tell the others to prepare for some crazy flying!"
"Already on it!" Luke quickly updated the others then went to the controls next to Lando.
"I've already programmed our best bet at an escape route into the computer, La-"
Luke was cut off as the freighter just barely managed to dodge out of the way of the Star Destroyer's tractor beam. Luke checked the computer again and realized that two more Star Destroyers were coming out of hyperspace…It was clear now that Lando's trick hadn't fooled the alien admiral at all, instead, Thrawn had been distracting them while calling more ships with powerful tractor beam capabilities.
Lando winced, "I really didn't think it'd come down to actual suicide…"
Out of the corner of his eye Luke noticed that Dr. Theeon was struggling against his bindings for the first time, muffled but desperate sounds coming from his gagged mouth. Clearly, the doctor had trusted them not to get him killed up until Lando's last comment. Another quick jerk of the ship and Luke barely managed to stay standing; he stopped his fall by grabbing onto the front console. A strange urge from the Force told Luke to look out the front view port and an escape route suddenly came to him.
With an excited gasp he lunged towards the controls, "Lando, I know what to do!"
Lando didn't question him but dove out of Luke's way and relinquished the controls to the younger pilot. The ship quickly darted a path past the Star Destroyers' carefully placed tractor beams and with a final shudder they made the jump into hyperspace.