Hey, hey, everyone! I'm finally back with another chapter! Hope you enjoy it, and leave a review if you feel inclined to do so.

Organized chaos was the best way to describe it.

Echo base was a bustling hive as it prepared to evacuate, with alarms blaring and orders sounding from loudspeakers all across the secret, giant hideout. Droids, pilots, mechanics, soldiers, and many others rushed about, preparing ships and Snowspeeders and manning turrets and other defenses in preparation of what was to come.

In the control room, Leia and her generals oversaw the process, surrounded by comms officers and droids all helping out. The clamor in the room, while not as chaotic as the rest of the base, was replaced by anxiety as everyone held their breath, waiting for the moment at which a fleet of Star Destroyers would appear on their scanners.

In the midst of all of it, Hobbes was heading for his and Calvin's secret hideout at a light jog, having just come back from fulfilling an order for all pilots to check and verify that their craft was ready for takeoff. He had had to make a pit stop to do so, and was now rushing against the clock to talk to Calvin about what Luke had told him.

Reaching the entrance, he once again rapped his knuckles on the sheet of metal in a specific order, and a few seconds later, it lifted to let him in.

"Hobbes!" Calvin greeted him. "Where were you? I was getting worried."

"I had to make sure that our Y-wing was operational," he explained, as the boy made his way back over to the DART. "What's been going on?"

"I'm just about done with powering down this bad boy," he said, gesturing to the machine. "But we're gonna have to find a way to transport this thing with us, without anyone finding out what it is."

"Well, there's always Han," Hobbes offered.

"Yeah. Good point," Calvin nodded. "We could ask him to take the DART up to the ship that we're staying on, and find a new hiding spot for it!"

He pressed a final button, and the last part of the DART powered down, ready for transport. "I'll go ask him!"

"Wait," Hobbes said. "There's something I gotta tell you first. I finally talked to Luke about a way to contain the Coaxium, and I think that I've found a solution."

"You did?" Calvin excitedly asked. "What did he say?"

As easy to follow as possible, Hobbes relayed the conversation between him and Luke, explaining how Kyber had powered both the Death Star and Luke's lightsaber, how it supposedly worked, and how Luke was not, in fact, going to join up with the Rebellion, but instead was going to seek out a very wise Jedi Master by the name of Yoda.

"And so maybe," he went on, "this Yoda guy has a Kyber crystal that we can use to help keep the Coaxium in check!"

"Hobbes," Calvin said, "sometimes your genius rivals my own. That's an awesome idea!"

Hobbes smiled, partly because of Calvin's self-complementation and because he was on board with the whole idea so far.

"So all we have to do is ask Luke to get a Kyler Crystal-"

"-Kyber Crystal."

"-Kyber Crystal for us," Calvin went on, "And we're all set!"

"Well…" Hobbes paused for a second. "Here's the thing. I was thinking that… maybe I should go with Luke so that I could meet Yoda in person."

"...why?" Calvin asked after a small moment of silence. "I mean… you don't need to go. We could just ask Luke to bring us a Kyber crystal back."

"But if I go and meet him, then maybe I can glean more information on how the Kyber Crystals work, and if it's actually possible to contain Coaxium with one," Hobbes explained. "Plus, It doesn't sit right with me to sit back and let Luke go and do what we need to do for us."

"Well… why not?" Calvin asked, rather upset.

"Because it feels wrong to me. And this is an old, wise Jedi Master that we're talking about. Do you think that, maybe, if one of us didn't show up in person to ask and Luke just said, 'Oh, hey, by the way, my friends want a Kyber crystal. Do you think you could give one to us,' he'd be more disinclined to give us one?"

"Well, maybe, but…" Calvin stopped.

"...What?" Hobbes asked, sensing that something was sitting wrong with his best friend. "You can tell me… Is it us not following orders? 'Cause Luke told me that he'd take care of th-"

"-No," Calvin interrupted, his eyes shimmering a tad more than usual. "I just…"

For a quarter of a minute, he stood still.

"I… I don't wanna lose you again."

The room was quiet, save for the faint alarm from somewhere deeper in Echo base. Flashbacks to his fight against the blizzard, and imagining Calvin's terrified state back them made Hobbes mumble, "Oh."

"I mean, yeah, I guess going in person guarantees a better chance of getting the crystal," Calvin began to say, "but I don't think that we really need to, right? I mean-"

"Calvin," Hobbes stopped him, and when the boy looked up, tears were shining in his eyes. Grabbing him by the shoulders, he wrapped him in a hug.

"You know that I'd never leave you hanging," Hobbes told him. "You're my best friend in the whole, wide world, and I'd rather never be able to get back to our own universe than lose you forever, right?"

"Yeah huh," Calvin sniffed.

"But we gotta get back home, and we're gonna," Hobbes went on. "And sometimes, we gotta take a risk or two to do that. I don't want to leave you either, but it would help us more if I went with Luke to see Yoda."

"Well… what if I come with you?" Calvin asked, pulling out of the hug.

"Then, who's going to look after the DART?" Hobbes countered. "If we lose that machine, we can't get back."

For almost a whole minute, Calvin was silent. Finally he said, "Alright."

"Alright?" Hobbes asked him, to which Calvin nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll be fine without you. Besides, it's not like you're going into battle or something, right?"

"Exactly," Hobbes chuckled. "You'll be great! After all, you have the most resilient spirit I've ever seen!"

"Alright!" Calvin nodded, wiping away his tears. "And plus, I can see if there's a way we can get some Coaxium!"

"Perfect!" Hobbes grinned. "Well, I suppose that now, all we gotta do is go ask Han if we can transport the DART on the Falcon."

Let's go, then! By the way, Hobbes…"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you think that I'd be upset over not following Miss Organic's orders?"

"Yeah… silly of me," the tiger laughed.

Han was working on repairing the Falcon when Calvin and Hobbes arrived at the hangar. Chewie was there, too, and both of them were busy on top of the ship, trying to weld the lifters of the Millenium Falcon. As they walked up to them, Han clambered down and pulled out his commlink.

"Okay, that's it…" he said. "Try turning it on, Chewie… try to... Off! Turn it off!Turn it off! Off!"

Suddenly, a small explosion sparked and crackled, enveloping the poor Wookie in a cloud of sparking smoke.

"Gah! C'mon!" Han exasperatedly yelled, slamming his tool against the Falcon's side. "Alright, hold on a second. I'm coming back up."

"Hey, Han," Calvin said.

"What?" Han asked in an annoyed tone, whirling to find Calvin and Hobbes six feet behind him. "Oh..., hey you two. What do you need?"

"Well, we were just wondering if you could help us out," Hobbes said. "As a favor."

"Uh, sure," Han shrugged. "What do you two need? I'm kind of in the middle of something, so it depends on what it is."

"Well, we have this large piece of machinery that we're working on," Hobbes explained, "and we need to get it onto the Rebel ship that we're staying on."

"And since we can't fit it in our Y-wing, we thought to ask you for assistance," Calvin finished.

"Uh, sure," Han shrugged. "I suppose I could drop your machine off at the fleet before I leave."

"Yeah, thanks! We…" Hobbes trailed off. "Wait, what do you mean, 'You're leaving?'"

"Oh," Han sighed. "I guess you guys haven't heard yet. See, I still have to pay off some final debts to Jabba the Hutt. Remember him?"

"The fatso crime slug you told us about?" Calvin asked. "So, wait… you're leaving the Rebellion? Like, quitting it permanently?"

"Well… I don't know about permanently," Han mused, "but you can be sure that I'm going to be away for a long while, 'cause let me tell you, it's not fun having a price on your head. Especially one as big as mine."

"Oh," both Calvin and Hobbes mumbled.

"Yeah," Han sighed. "But I can still get your guys' machine onto the ship that you're staying in!"

"Thanks, Han," Hobbes nodded, but his smile was hollow. He'd miss the space smuggler. "We'd appreciate that."

"Alright. Well, I still have to do some repairing on my ol' girl here, but bring that machine over as soon as you can, and I'll-"

"Attention! Attention! Star Destroyers are exiting hyperspace and are en route to attack Echo base! All pilots, meet in the Southern Hangar for details! All personnel, get to your designated transports and prepare for the final stage of the evacuation!" a voice blared over the intercom, cutting off Han and creating an even more hectic bustle in the hangar.

"Alright!" Hobbes clapped his hands. "Calvin, get the machine and get it on the Falcon! After you're done, I'll meet you at the Tiger One!"

"Wait!" Calvin said. "Where are you going?"

"To the South Hangar!" Hobbes told him. "I'll fill you in on the plan once I get back!"

"Got it!"

As Calvin sped off to deliver the DART to the Falcon, Hobbes took off at a light jog towards the South Hangar. With the announcement that the Empire had arrived, the tension increased tenfold as everyone raced against the clock to pack up and escape what was not 24 hours ago the most secretive Rebel base in the Galaxy.

Suddenly, in the midst of the calamity. Hobbes bumped into another pilot going the same direction. "Sorry!"

"Oh, hey, Hobbes!" The pilot, Luke, greeted him. "On your way to the South Hangar?"

"Isn't everybody?" Hobbes asked.

"Right, sorry. Hey, did you work things out with Calvin?"

"Yep," Hobbes nodded. "He wasn't too happy, but we agreed that I'm going with you while he stays behind."

"Great! Meet up with me after you get away," Luke told him. "And don't worry about asking permission. I've got it covered!"

"Thanks!" Hobbes nodded, and both of them continued their race to the briefing spot, passing transport shuttles that were currently being fueled and, as they neared their destination, finding themselves in the midst of a dozen other men and women clad in red jumpsuits.

Finally, he entered the south hangar and followed his comrades to where a line of Snowspeeders waited. Forming a rough oval, the pilots stood at attention as Leia and General Riekkan walked up.

"Alright, people, listen up!" Leia's authoritative voice rang through the circle. "All troop carriers will assemble at the north entrance. The heavy transport ships will leave as soon as they're loaded. Only two fighter escorts per ship! The energy shield can only be opened for a short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transports."

"Now, according to our scouts," she went on, "the Empire has sent at least nine AT-AT's to punch through our defenses and eliminate our Shield Generator! Red 8, Red 9, and Tiger One, you will accompany Rogue Squadron in the extra Snowspeeders to hold off the attack as long as you can so that those transports can get out!"

"Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?" Hobbie, a member of Rogue squadron and one of Luke's old childhood friends asked skeptically.

"The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure that any enemy ships will be out of your flight path," Leia explained. "When you've gotten past the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point. Understood?"

A series of cheers sounded out from the crowd, and the pilots began to make their way to their ships to carry out their orders. Hobbes headed straight for one of the three extra Snowspeeders, and opened the canopy to climb in. Flicking switches and turning dials, he smiled as the engine hummed to life. Grabbing the stick, he turned it around, and sped out of the entrance to go pick up Calvin.

Man, this is heavy!

Groaning, Calvin continued to push the D.A.R.T across the hangar bay, which was now already half empty as most of the pilots had flown away to escort the troop transports as they escaped.

Hobbes still wasn't back, after a whole two hours (it's more gratifying when you count what it feels like) of him pushing his incredibly heavy mechanism all the way from out of their secret hideout to the open ramp of the Falcon, where Han was still at work fixing it.

"Chewie, grab the cable! Grab the- leggo, leggo!"

"Braaaargh!"

They had run into a series of faulty power cables.

Seeing their Y-wing still parked there, Calvin was reminded of his and Hobbes' trip to Agrabah… Diegobah? Stegobah?

Whatever it was, he still wasn't too happy about it. The thought of him, off on some weird world for weeks… maybe even months, if Luke decided to stay that long to finish his training with Yoda.

Who even was the Jedi Master? What did he look like? Maybe a beetle, walking on two legs and holding blue lightsabers in his four hands. He'd have stripey yellow bug-eyes, and pointing antennae.

The thought brought a chuckle to his lips, and, having reached the loading ramp, he attempted to push his cargo up the incline. He got about halfway, before his feet slipped and he barely managed to keep from losing his footing as he and the DART slid down again.

"Whoa-! Oof!"

The machine hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground.

Growling in frustration, Calvin stumbled to his feet, and, with an incensed temper, pushed against the DART with all of his might.

Suddenly, a strong set of furry, brown arms connected with the metal surface at the same time, and with the strength of a Wookie beside him, they were easily able to load it in the smuggler's ship.

"Thanks, Chewie," Calvin grinned, receiving a friendly bark from the co-smuggler.

"Chewie, where did you go?! I need help with this plantainium nozzle!

Uttering a frustrated growl, Chewbacca walked back outside to help his partner out again. Stepping out after him, Calvin went to run to the Southern Hangar, when the sudden whirring of engines made him spin.

"Hobbes!" he yelled, running to the landing Snowspeeder in delight. "Lemme in!"

In response, the collapsible ladder to the copilot seat lowered, and he clambered up as fast as he could, hopping in and closing the hatch.

"Hey, Calvin," Hobbes greeted him. "Is the DART stowed away?"

"Yup, and it only took me a short time to do it. I've been waiting for an hour for you!" Calvin told him.

"Calvin, I've only been gone for fifteen minutes," Hobbes sighed.

"Oh.. well, do you have everything for the trip to Dagobah?"

"Not Reeealy," Hobbes admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I was just going to freestyle it and do my best."

"I'm liking this whole thing less and less the more I hear about it," Calvin grumbled as the speeder rose up into the air. "And I despised it to begin with!"

"Relax!" Hobbes said, flying the vehicle out of the hangar and towards a small trail of other Snowspeeders in the distance. "I'll be fine. Dagobah's a swampy jungle forest, so I'll be right in my element!"

"Hmph."

Below them, an intricate network of trenches, carved into the ice in front of the main entrance to the base, was filled with scores of Rebel soldiers. They were taking up blasters or manning powerful turrets in preparation for the Imperials' attack. Hobbes, as they flew over the icy terrain, filled Calvin in on what Leia had said at the briefing.

"AT-ATs, huh?" Calvin muttered. "They're really bringing out the big guns if they need to use their most powerful walkers."

"Yep," Hobbes agreed, shuddering at the thought of facing them. AT-ATs were the scourge of the Empire. Sixty feet tall and armed with Chin-mounted cannons and repeating-fire blasters, these four-legged behemoths looked almost like metallic mammoths in their build. Their reputation as unstoppable machines of destruction was firmly cemented throughout the galaxy.

Reaching the rest of Rogue Squadron, Hobbes formed up behind Wedge Antilles, also known by his callsign, Rogue Three, and listened up to Luke, who was leading the entire squadron.

"-now, remember," Luke was saying, "we have got to keep the empire away from our Shield Generator at all costs! If they get to it before we all evacuate, a lot of our guys will die. Understood?"

A series of affirmative answers rang through Hobbes and Calvin's commpad. Every speeder had one, and could all speak to each other by using it. Calvin, when he heard about it, called it the group chat, much to Hobbes' amusement.

Then, up ahead, coming out of Kerane Pass, unnatural white shapes appeared, slowly advancing toward the base. As soon as Hobbes spotted them, Luke ordered for everyone to speed up, straight towards the emerging AT-ATs.

"There they are," Luke said. "Now, everyone, get into single file behind me. We're going to hit them hard and fast."

"Alright, boys," Luke addressed his squadron. "Keep tight, now."

Anxious, Calvin and Hobbes awaited Luke's next order as they flew closer and closer to the advancing imperial force. The Walkers up ahead were now out of the pass and marching through Echo valley. Soon they would be within firing range.

They came closer... and closer... and clos-

"Okay, everyone! Attack pattern Delta! Go now!"

Hobbes pushed on the accelerator. Attack pattern Delta consisted of all of the speeders flying in a straight line towards the AT-ATs and firing, before scattering in different directions. That way, the walker could only focus its attention on one target at a time.

The giant walkers opened fire, their twin cannons on the sides of the head-like cockpit spitting ionized gas at the foremost speeder, Luke's. Firing back, he veered to the side, allowing for Rogue Two behind him to do the same. One by one, the speeders hit the AT-ATs with everything that they had, and suddenly, the speeder in front of Hobbes exploded into flame as a blast tore through its surface.

"Shoot!" Hobbes yelled, twisting and breaking off the attack to avoid the tumbling wreckage of the downed snowspeeder. Twin cannon fire flew through the area where they had just been. With no time to turn before he would hit the AT-AT straight on, he instead dived down low and sped under the foremost walker's legs in a daring maneuver, barely managing to avoid them.

"Whoo!" Calvin exclaimed as they rejoined the others who were circling around to attack once more. "That's what I call close!"

"Get ready!" Hobbes told him, coming into formation right behind Luke as they flew straight towards the walkers again.

"C'mon, boys," Luke goaded. "Keep it tight. Keep it tight-tight-tight-tight- now!"

Dozens of ruby projectiles streaked past them in an attempt to gun down the pesky Snowspeeders. Once again, Hobbes unloaded round after round of blaster fire into the Walker's cockpit, but in turn, two more Snowspeeders were hit.

The AT-ATs kept moving forward.

"Hobbes, our guns aren't doing anything!" Calvin yelled.

"Luke, our guns aren't doing anything!" Hobbes reiterated to Luke, who, realizing this, decided to switch up the strategy.

"Acknowledged. That armor's too strong for our blasters," Luke informed his squadron. "Rogue Group, use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs. It might be our only chance of stopping them!"

"Tow cables?!" Calvin asked. "What does he mean by that?"

"All of us have tow cables on our speeders!" Hobbes explained. "Once we come around again, we need to dive down and attach our cable onto the AT-AT's leg! Then, we'll try to wrap it around the rest of them, and send the walker crashing to the ground!"

"And that'll work?" he asked, skeptical.

"Hopefully!" Hobbes said, and sped up. "Get ready to fire the cable!"

Finding the controls for the tow cable, Calvin held his breath in anticipation as the speeders circled for a third time to attack the walkers. But this time, as the impregnable war machines fired at them, they didn't stay in a straight line.

"Everyone! Scatter!" Luke ordered. "Pick a target!"

At the last second, the neat line exploded into a zigzagging mess as the Snowspeeders scattered prematurely, arming their harpoons and diving down to attack. Calvin, unsure of how to attempt the trick, nervously awaited his opportunity to fire the cable.

Then, as they twisted and turned through the giant legs of the walker, Hobbes yelled, "Now!"

Doing his best to aim in the shaking environment of the copilot's seat, Calvin fired the cable, and despaired when it missed the walker's leg and landed in the snow.

"I missed!" Calvin yelled, reeling in the metallic line as they zoomed around again. "Next time, go slower!"

"I can't!" Hobbes argued. "We'll be blown to bits by the Walkers!"

"Well, you have to!" Calvin argued. "I can't aim well!"

"I'm doing my best!"

Suddenly, a loud crash rumbled through the air as the leftmost walker fell to its knees, its white legs tangled in a cable wrapped around it by none other than Luke's.

"Wait…" Calvin muttered. "That's what will happen if we pull this trick off?"

"Yeah!" Hobbes nodded.

"Well, then! What are we doing? Let's bring this hunk o' junk down!" Calvin whooped, now excited when he saw that the trick could actually work... and that it cause so much destruction.

Grinning, Hobbes formed up again behind two other snowspeeders, and suddenly dived down as low as he could, daring to fly only a couple yards above the snowy surface. A trail of powder leapt up in his wake, and as the AT-AT was about to get them in its sights, firing closer and closer, they raced through its legs.

"Now, Calvin!"

Lining up the shot, Calvin sent the spear-tipped line straight into the walker's hind leg. The point impaled the lower joint and he yelled, "I hit him!"

"Awesome!" Hobbes grinned, and proceeded to pull back on the throttle, curling tightly around the AT-AT's enormous frame and tangling the rest of the cable around it. Then, as it reached its end, he cut it and sped away.

Slowly, unaware that it was already done for, the AT-AT continued to lumber towards the defenses around the shield generator, which was getting dangerously close. Suddenly, as it took another step, the line went taut, and, unable to keep itself upright, the machine collapsed to the ground.

"Nice job, Tiger One!" Luke's voice came over the radio. "Come around again! There's seven more walkers to deal with!"

"Copy! We'll bring them down!" Hobbes said, coming behind Luke's speeder to attack. "Calvin, get ready to fire our other tow cab-"

Suddenly, an intense amount of flak filled the air as smaller Scout Walkers accompanying the AT-ATs let loose a barrage of cannon fire towards the remaining speeders. Hobbes did his best to evade, spinning and diving and weaving around. But suddenly, a large explosion blasted in front of him, and Luke's speeder sustained a gaping hole in its side. Several other Snowspeeders were torn to shreds by the fire.

"Luke!" Calvin yelled as Hobbes activated his commlink.

"Luke, are you alright?" Hobbes asked. The reply was delayed.

"Wedge, Hobbes, I've lost my gunner," Luke reported. "You'll have to make this shot. I'll cover for you. Set your harpoons and follow me on the next pass!"

"Copy!" Hobbes nodded. "Calvin, get ready!"

"Oh I'm ready!" Calvin growled. Who are these guys, thinkin' that they could just up 'an shoot us out of the sky?

"Coming around, Rogue leader," Wedge Antilles reported. Together, they zoomed towards the other AT-ATs.

Flak filled the air again, though not as thick as before. Rogue Two, piloted by Zev, began to veer off of his trajectory.

"Steady, Rogue Two," Luke ordered, dispensing covering fire so as to prevent the remainder of his squadron from getting hit. Then, suddenly, all four of them raced ahead, detaching cables in an effort to bring down the walker. Calvin fired, but due to the poor aim, missed.

"I missed my shot!" Calvin reported. "Didja get him, guys?"

"I got a hit!" Wedge exclaimed, and his speeder circled around the walker, wrapping the cable securely around the legs. "Cable out, Janson! Let her go!"

The cable detached, and the walker crashed to the ground before exploding into a thousand pieces of metal. And yet, everyone knew that they couldn't keep this up. With every walker that they brought down, several Snowspeeders were destroyed. The AT-ATs were almost to the Shield Generator.

Suddenly, a lone blast from one of the AT-ATs shot through the sky and exploded, tearing off Luke's wing and sending him spiraling out of control.

"Luke!" Hobbes yelled.

"Hobbes, I've been hit! Return to- Crzr-hchh- base!" Luke ordered, static bursting through the transmission.

"Luke, we are not leaving y-" Calvin yelled from his seat, when suddenly, a deafening explosion lit up the sky.

The Shield Generator had been destroyed.

"Get back to Echo base! " Luke ordered. "I'll catch up with you! Get out of- Crzchzchhh!"

Reluctantly, Hobbes turned and fled back to Echo base, which was being rapidly overwhelmed by imperial forces. Wedge and Zeb followed him, the three being the lone survivors of the onslaught.

"Are you leaving Luke!?" Calvin asked, aghast.

"He can take care of himself!" Hobbes argued, doing his best to evade the blasts coming from the imperial ground forces. "You need to make sure the DART gets out of here safely!"

Suddenly, as they neared the Hangar where both the Falcon and their Y-wing were parked, imperial blaster fire came from below, from the very trenches that just a while ago had been stocked with Rebel soldiers.

"Wow! They're taking Echo base fast!" Calvin remarked, attempting to steady himself as turret fire from below forced Hobbes to weave and dodge.

"Bang!" A turret round pierced the exhaust vent on the bottom of the speeder, punching through and causing a trail of smoke to exit it.

"What happened?" Calvin asked as his seat began to shake.

"Engine Failure," Hobbes told him. "Strap in. We're gonna have to try a crash landing!"

The smoking snowspeeder sizzled and sparked as Hobbes steered it as best as he could towards the hangar opening, which had been blown apart by a barrage from the moving ground came nearer and nearer, until, suddenly, the speeder slammed diagonally onto the floor and skidded for almost twenty feet, Calvin and Hobbes screaming all the while.

Finally, they stopped, and Hobbes was the first to get out, emptying his stomach contents onto the icy ground. A wave of dizziness overcame him, and he fell to the floor with an "Oof!"

Calvin exited behind him, also dizzy from the motion sickness but better off than Hobbes. Helping him to his feet, he made sure that he was okay.

"I'm fine…" Hobbes mumbled, standing up slowly and placing a hand on the Snowspeeder's wreckage for support. "We- we gotta get outta here."

"I know. Are you sure you're okay?" Calvin asked.

"Yeah," Hobbes nodded. "My stomach is not agreeing with me."

A sudden growl made both of them turn to see Chewbacca run towards them.

"Chewie!" Hobbes grinned, and wrapped the Wookie in a hug. "How are you doing?"

He barked a reply, which Calvin couldn't make out. "Yeah, yeah," he broke in. "Where's Han and 3po? They said they'd be here."

Chewie answered again, and Hobbes translated. "They're on their way."

"Well… they'd better hurry, quick!" Calvin grumbled, pointing to the hangar's opening. Outside, dozens of Lambda Class shuttles were landing, now that the shield had been destroyed. Within a few minutes, hundreds of troopers would enter the base and overwhelm the final defenses.

"You should get to the Y-wing, Hobbes," Calvin said. "Link up with Luke… if he's still alive."

"Don't talk like that!" Hobbes admonished, but he heeded Calvin's suggestion and ran towards their bomber. "He's a jedi!"

"Doesn't make him invincible!" Calvin argued. "Just sayin'!"

He looked around again, but neither Han nor 3po were nowhere to be seen. Where were those slowpokes?!

"Goodbye, Calvin!" Hobbes yelled as he climbed into the cockpit. A tremor rippled through the base.

"Good Luck!" Calvin shouted back, waving an arm as Hobbes lifted the Y-wing into the air. All around them, tremors rumbled and snow fell down as the Base was bombarded by the Empire. They were closing in, and fast.

Then, as Hobbes began to move out of the Hangar, the door on the far side opened, and out ran Han and C-3po, the latter struggling to keep up.

"Hey!" Calvin yelled to get their attention. As he did so, he noticed a third figure running behind them.

Was that LEIA?!

"Calvin! Chewie!" Han yelled. "Get to the Falcon!"

They did so, evading falling chunks of snow and ice as they ran across the hangar. They ran up the Falcon's ramp and into the safety of the cargo hold.

"Hurry up, Goldenrod, or you're gonna become a permanent resident!" Han's urgent voice rang out behind them as he grabbed a straggling 3po and threw him onto the ship. Calvin let out a snicker at the new nickname as he, along with everyone else, rushed to the cockpit.

Wasting no time, Han and Chewie got in their seats and began to flick switches and press buttons, turning on the ship and activating the engine… at least they tried to.

"What's wrong?" Leia asked them.

"Troublesome gauge, sweetheart," Han quipped. "Give me a second."

"We don't have a second!"

"How's this?" Han asked Chewie, pressing a button. The Wookie responded in the negative.

"Would it help if I got out and pushed?" Leia sarcastically remarked.

"It might," Calvin said, getting an idea. "Say, why don't you try it out?"

Leia glared at him.

"Alright, I guess not," Calvin shrugged.

"Captain Solo! Captain Solo!" the high-pitched voice of C-3po entered the cockpit. "Sir, might I suggest that you-"

Han cut him off with a menacing glare.

"...It can wait," 3po decided.

For another minute, Han and Chewie continued to activate the ship, piece by piece, as Leia watched with an exasperated expression. "This bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade," she muttered.

"This baby's got a few surprises left in her, sweetheart," Han said.

"Stormtroopers!" Calvin pointed, making everyone look up with horror.

Dozens of Snowtroopers were entering the hangar, carrying repeating blasters and donning cold weather-assault gear. Then, behind them, a figure exited, cloaked in nothing but black. His robotic helmet turned to look at them, with eyes beneath that could have only contained one thing: Hatred.

"Aauugh!" Calvin screamed. "It's Darth Vader!"

The stormtroopers opened fire, rounds impacting the ship's surface and creating charred dots all over it. Others scrambled to set up an ion turret that would punch straight through the Falcon's armor. In response, Chewie pressed a button and a cannon emerged from under the Falcon that sent the imperials diving for cover.

Vader activated his lightsaber, and began deflecting the incoming cannon bolts with it as Han frantically struggled to lift the ship into the air. "C'mon, c'mon… okay, Chewie! Engine's on! Let's hope that we don't have a burnout."

The ship slowly rose into the air, before turning to face the large opening as the cannon retracted into the Falcon's hull.

"Punch it, Chewie!" Han ordered, and the ship rocketed out of the hangar, quickly becoming a blip in the atmosphere.

Darth Vader lowered his lightsaber as his men rushed to and fro, attempting to collect their wounded. Sheathing in under his cape, he stared after the Millenium Falcon with rage at having his prey escape once again. This was an imperial victory, yes, but they were now no closer to eradicating the rebellion than a month ago.

But he knew that he'd find them. All it would take was patience… and a trap.

Man! Over 5,000 words! My longest chapter yet! But I promised that I would show the Battle of Hoth, and here it is!

:D