A/N: Sorry for the delay; been sick the past few days with really bad allergies. Here's some Luke story line for you all.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! :)

IX

The ship the group had left on to escape Renn and the Imperials worked, but she didn't fly too great. The hyperspace unit malfunctioned quickly after they left the orbit of Corellia, but it was enough to get away from the threats on the planet for the time being.

Luke said copilot to Chewie in the cockpit; the Wookie felt bittersweet about the boy sitting in Han's chair, but knew he deserved it after everything they had been through together. It wasn't as though it was the Millennium Falcon, anyhow, so it wasn't personal.

When the stars slipped into view again as the ship kicked out of hyperspace to cool down, Luke had rummaged through the back of the old ship to see if Renn had stored any parts that might help them fix it up, but he had no luck. Artoo had addressed the problem from the control monitor down the hall from the cockpit, announcing that the radiator of the communications panel was overheating and needed a patch in order to have the connections of the ship work properly. Luke guessed that Renn had never installed it correctly.

"If I may, sir," Threepio had told him when he was in the rafters looking for whatever he could find. "That radiator unit on Corellia would have been a good bargain, especially in this situation." Leave it to Threepio to kindly put you down.

"Chewie, where are we exactly?" the boy asked.

Chewie brought up a holographic map of the surrounding systems. It didn't venture far, but that was okay; there wasn't a way for them to get very far that quickly, anyway.

A low rumbly sound came from Chewbacca's throat. Luke still couldn't understand Wookie talk, but he tried his best. He could guess.

"Not too far from Correllia, huh?"

Another growl from the carpet.

"Artoo will get her patched up in no time," Luke promised.

Then, the anticipated interruption from the golden droid.

"Master Luke! Master Luke!"

Luke spun around in his copilot chair and met Threepio at the door. He leapt onto his feet to match his entrance, nearly stumbling.

The doors to the cockpit slid open and revealed an excited Threepio, his arms flailing around with energy.

"Princess Leia has awoken!" the droid informed his master.

Luke's eyes widened, but he was thankful, not frightened, for once. He thanked his droid for alerting him and asked Chewie to monitor their path and alert him if anything changed or Artoo finished repairing the communications panel. Then, he made his way through the big hauling space and a few more hallways and made his way to the bunk Leia was occupying.

When the doors slid open, Luke met her eyes instantly. They were pale with exhaustion, but still held life. The Princess sat up slowly in bed, but was able to push herself up after a struggle.

"You should lie back," Luke told her softly.

Leia's brow furrowed; she hated being told to sit back. She may be a princess, but she was no girl.

"I'm fine," she argued.

Luke let it go and took a seat on the stool next to her bed that he had placed in the room earlier. He read her vitals on the display monitor on the side of her bunk and lowered a temperature on a cooling unit in used above her head; the poison had given her a fever which had since reduced, so there was no need to freeze her.

"Where are we?" Leia asked, realizing she last remembered being on Corellia.

Luke continued to mess with the cooling unit, keeping his attention overhead. "The freighter Renn had in the warehouse. We got caught in the middle of Vader and some other commander."

"Another commander…" Leia whispered to herself.

Luke looked down at her suddenly, surprised she knew anything about what had happened. When they had brought her back to the group, she was already passed out.

"Yes. What do you remember?"

"Well," Leia told him, swinging her legs over the side of her bunk so she could face him. "That girl, Eris. She brought Artoo and I a nectar from Corellia to try as a drink."

"Artoo made it back without you," Luke told her quietly. He pushed her legs back into bed and she scowled at him. He continued anyway. "Showed up just before we were about to take this ship up."

"Yes, I remember him scurrying away when I was passing out," she confirmed.

"They gave you a stunner," Luke told her. "They were offering money to Renn and Eris in exchange for their help."

"Help?" Leia repeated. "With what?"

Luke was conflicted. He felt a sense of warmth from Han when he had offered himself eagerly in exchange for Leia's safety. He also knew Leia cared for the both of them, even if she put on a show from time to time. She valued them and their efforts in the Rebellion. He knew if he explained to her everything in detail, it may hurt her. But he also knew if he didn't, she would find out and be out on her own searching for Solo, so there was no easy way out for him.

"Capturing Han," he told her, staring her dead in the eyes. He wanted to read her reaction as best as he could.

"Han?" Leia whispered. Then, she looked down at the mattress underneath her legs.

"They took him instead," Luke told her. "Chewie is still trying to track him down, but we'll get him back, Leia," he promised.

Luke placed a hand on her shoulder when he vowed to retrieve the smuggler, as though trying to comfort her. He sensed something change in her, but couldn't figure out what; his use of the Force was still very rusty. Obi-Wan hadn't taught him everything before he had been killed, so Luke was learning mostly on his own.

"That man is going to get us killed!" Leia swore suddenly. She looked up at Luke angrily.

He was taken aback by her sudden temperament. And then, as if she knew what he was thinking, she changed back to kindness and sorrow for the loss.

"I'm going to find him," Leia told Luke in a matter-of-fact tone. There would be no arguing with her.

"Chewie is tracking down his location now. We're just waiting for Artoo to finished repairing the radiator and then—"

Without warning, an alarm sounded in the ship, cutting off Luke's sentence. It buzzed a repulsive sound repeatedly, alerting them that the ship was under fire. Immediately, he stood to his feet and made his way out of the bunk room and to the cockpit again.

"Stay here!" Luke ordered Leia over his shoulder as he left. He knew she wouldn't listen.

When he made it back to Chewie's side, his friend yowled and pointed at the map in front of him, indicating a red blip that was incoming from behind.

"Put up our shields," Luke ordered. Then he turned to Threepio, who was still in their company in the cockpit. "Where is Artoo on getting us into hyperspace?" he asked urgently.

The ship rocked as it took the impact of a blaster cannon of the ship behind them. Luke grabbed the wall for support, but remained standing.

"Still working, sir," See-Threepio informed him. "There is much to do to get it back together."

Great. There would be no hyperspace to get them out of this situation.

"Chewie, can you pull up anything on our attacker?" he asked calmly, looking back to the map.

The Wookie yelled again and shook his big, furry head. Then, he jerked the ship down and to the left, swinging her hard and sharp in order to try to lose their company, but it didn't work.

"Keep up with the evasive maneuvers." Luke demanded. He had an idea. "What's in the docking bay below?"

"Two escape pods and a small transport, sir," Threepio recalled.

Luke smiled. "If I take the transport out of here, I might be able to distract them and get them off your tail," he shouted over the sudden jerking and thunderous noises coming from below as the ship was hit again.

Chewie rumbled from the piloting seat as he steered the ship to the right to avoid another cannon shot.

"I'll be okay," Luke promised him. "I'll meet up with you again when I lose them."

"Master Luke," Threepio argued. "The odds of surviving taking on a ship of that size in the little transport below are—"

"I can handle it." Luke took his lightsaber from the chair next to Chewie and secured it in his boot. "Make sure Leia gets her rest until I get back!"

The Wookie gargled an understanding, letting the Jedi know he would try his best. Then, Luke was off to the bottom hallways of the freighter where the small pods sat. Climbing into the little transport, he placed a helmet on his head and prepared himself for the hatch to unlock.

"Chewie, lower the hatch!" Luke called as he flicked on his communicator in the ship's dashboard and fired her up. "No sudden movements after I'm out! We want them to think I was the only one on board."

Slowly, the doors to the pad slid open and allowed Luke access to space. He was being let out below, so he had to prepare to take on the invader behind them as soon as he left the airspace of the ship.

Pushing a few buttons for display, he read the information on the attacker. Imperial. He should've guessed as much. By the looks of it, it could only house two or three people in the cockpit. Small, but still deadly.

Then, a message was intercepted from his display.

"Commander Skywalker."

The voice was deep and had an airy effect. Vader.

Luke didn't reply, but Vader continued, anyway.

"Surrender at once or my troops will shoot you down," the Dark Lord warned.

"I'll never give into you," Skywalker recited and ended the communication.

He hit a button for hyperspace on his pod and quickly burst into the outer system of the orbiting moons of Corellia in order to escape the situation. He only hoped that Vader would send his ship after him, instead of increasing attacks on Chewie and the others.

"Follow him," Vader ordered his ship from the grounds of Corellia before taking off with his fleet. He was angered by Luke cutting off his call. "Leave the Princess and the Wookie. Once we have the Jedi, he'll take us right back to the rest of them."