Star Wars: Remix version
Chapter Thirty: to be or not to be...in an asteroid field
Luke, looking thoughtful, suddenly made a quick decision. He flipped several switches. The stars shifted as he took his fighter into a steep turn. The X-wing banked sharply and flew away in a new direction. The monitor screen on Luke's control panel printed out a question from the concerned Artoo.
"There's nothing wrong, Artoo. I'm just setting a new course" Luke replied. Artoo beeped once again. "We're not going to regroup with the others" Artoo began protesting. "We're going to the Dagobah system" Luke checked his readouts and made a few adjustments. He rode along with only the soft hum of the instruments to break the silence. Finally, Artoo chirped up. "Yes, Artoo?" Artoo uttered a soft, carefully phrased steam of whistles. Luke chuckled. "That's all right. I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while" The little droid let out a defeated whimper. Luke smiled, and continued on his course.
The Millennium Falcon sped away from Hoth, closely followed by one huge Star Destroyer and four tiny TIE fighters. As it is pursued, the Falcon raced toward two very bright star-sized objects. Inside the cockpit, Chewie let out a loud howl. Han checked as the ship was buffeted by exploding flak.
"I saw them! I saw them!" Han shouted.
"Saw what?" Anna asked, worriedly.
"Star Destroyers, two of them, coming right at us" Han replied. Threepio bumped and banged his way into the cockpit.
"Sir, sir! Might I suggest..." Han cut him off.
"Shut him up or shut him down!" Han barked at Anna. He turned to Chewie. "Check the deflector shield!" Chewie barked a reply as he readjusted an overhead switch.
"Oh, great" Han groaned. "Well, we can still outmaneuver them" Padme and Leia were seated in the passenger area of the ship, watching the action out the window. The Millennium Falcon raced toward one of the huge oncoming Star Destroyers. Suddenly, the Falcon started into a deep dive straight down, closely followed by four TIE fighters. The underside of the Star Destroyer continued on a collision course with two oncoming Star Destroyers. Slowly, it started to veer to the left. The Millennium Falcon raced away from the colliding Star Destroyers, still followed by four TIE fighters. Laser bolts sparked the pitch-black skies. Things calmed down a bit, but the race wasn't over yet. Chewie barked at Han. Padme and Leia were still trying to recover from the steep dive. The ship was buffeted by laser blasts.
"Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed" Han announced.
"But, sir!" Threepio protested. The buffeting of lasers became louder and stronger.
"They're getting closer!" Anna cried.
"Oh yeah? Watch this" Han said. Expectantly, they looked out the cockpit window as stars do not go into hyperspace, but just sit there. Han and Chewie looked at each other and are thrown into an acute state of concern.
"Watch what?" Anna asked. Han tried again. Still nothing.
"I think we're in trouble" Han muttered.
"If I may say so, sir, I noticed earlier that the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It's impossible to go to light-speed!" Threepio told them. Han groaned.
"We're in trouble!" He said again. The explosions became heavier. The Falcon raced into the starry vastness, followed by the four Imperial TIE fighters and an Imperial Star Destroyer. Han worked furiously at some control panels while giving various orders to Chewie.
"Horizontal boosters...!" Chewie barked. "Alluvial dampers...! Well that's not it" Chewie barked again. "Bring me the hydrospanners!" Chewie hurried over to the pit and placed the tools on the edge.
"I don't know how we're going to get out of this one" Han muttered. Suddenly, a loud thump hit the side of the Falcon, causing it to lurch radically. Chewie barked. The tools fell into the pit on top of Han.
"Oww! Chewie!" Han shouted. More turbulence rocked the ship. Padme and leia held onto thier seats, Leia was terrified.
"That was no laser blast! Something hit us" Han muttered.
"Han, get up here!" Anna said over the comlink.
"Come on, Chewie!" Han climbed out of the hold like a shot. Both he and Chewie ran out of the hold and toward the cockpit. Out the front cockpit window, they saw hundreds of asteroids racing by.
"Asteroids!" Anna said. Han changed places with Anna who had been at the controls, and Chewie climbed into his chair. Han worked his controls as a chunk of rock crossesd in front of the ship.
"Oh, no! Chewie, set two-seven-one" Han barked.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked frantically. "You're not actually going into an asteroid field?"
"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" Han asked, winking. Anna winced as another asteroid thumped against the ship.
"Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one" Threepio said.
"Never tell me the odds!" Han barked. The Falcon turned into the asteroid storm and as the ship completed its turn, asteroids started coming straight at the cockpit windows. A large asteroid tumbled away from the Falcon's path at top speed. Several smaller asteroids crashed into the big one, creating small explosions on its surface. Other asteroids of all sizes passed by in every direction, some colliding and exploding. The Millennium Falcon veered around the big asteroid and raced past it through the rain of rocks, followed by four TIE fighters, which bobbed and weaved around the asteroids. One of the pursuing TIE fighters connected with an asteroid and exploded. The other fighters were pelted with a steady stream of smaller explosions. Two huge asteroids tumbled toward the Millennium Falcon, which quickly banked around both of them. The three TIE fighters followed in hot pursuit until one of the fighters scraped an asteroid and tumbled out of control into deep space. The massive Star Destroyer blasted oncoming asteroids as it followed the Falcon. Smaller asteroids exploded across its vast surface. The Falcon twisted on its side as it raced around an oncoming asteroid. Two TIE fighters follow in the distance, coming from either side.
Asteroids raced by the cockpit window as Han piloted his trusty craft through the dangerous field. Looking out the cockpit window, the Falcon crew saw a big asteroid drop past the window, narrowly missing their ship. Chewie barked in terror as a slightly smaller asteroid came especially close - too close - and bounced off the Falcon with a loud crunch. Threepio's hands covered his eyes. He managed a short peek at the cockpit window. Princess Anna sat stone-faced, staring at the action. Han gave her a quick look.
"We're going to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer" She said. The group watched as more asteroids raced by outside the window.
"I'm not going to argue with that" Han said.
"Pulverized?" Threepio enquired.
"I'm going in closer to one of those big ones" Han said.
"Closer?" Anna asked. The Millennium Falcon dove toward the surface of one of the moon-sized asteroids. There is a continued display of explosions against the starry void as smaller asteroids collided with larger chunks of rock. The two remaining TIE fighters followed the Falcon to the large asteroid. The Falcon skimmed the surface of the giant asteroid as, all the while, small asteroids exploded on the surface of the ship. The TIE fighters approached the Falcon, but a giant asteroid hurtled directly into their path. As the asteroid continued on its way, it left remains of the two exploded TIE fighters to tumble into deep space. Rattled by the violent rocking of the starship, Threepio was nearly in hysterics.
"Oh, this is suicide!" Threepio muttered. Han noticed something on his main scope and nudged his faithful Wookiee, pointing.
"There. That looks pretty good" Han said.
"What looks pretty good?" Leia asked, coming into the cockpit.
"Yeah. That'll do nicely" Han said, not answering her question.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but where are we going?" Threepio asked Anna. Out the cockpit window, they saw that they were skimming the surface of the enormous asteroid and nearing a large crater. The Millennium Falcon dove into the huge crater and disappeared.
"I hope you know what you're doing" Anna muttered.
"Yeah, me too" Han replied. The Falcon raced down into the crater. The walls were barely visible as the ship sped through the tunnellike opening. A small cave appeared on one side of the crater, and the Falcon turned, slowed, and scooted into it.