Dark Premonitions

Clutching desperately at his throat, Captain Needa slumped down to the floor of the Executor's bridge, then fell over onto his back, at the feet of Darth Vader. "Apology accepted, Captain Needa." Vader said casually, then he signalled for two Fleet Troopers to remove the body.

Vader then crossed over to where Admiral Piett was supervising the scanning crews. "Lord Vader, our ships have completed their scan of the area and found nothing." Piett reported. "If the Millennium Falcon went into lightspeed, they'd be on the other side of the galaxy by now."

"Alert all commands." Vader ordered. "Calculate every possible destination along their last known trajectory."

"Yes, my Lord. We'll find them." Piett acknowledged.

"Don't fail me again... Admiral." Vader finished warningly, then went off back to his quarters to meditate.

Piett swallowed, knowing what would happen if he didn't succeed this time. "Alert all commands." he ordered his crew. "Deploy the fleet."

~8~

What no one in Death Squadron realised was that the Millennium Falcon was clamped to the back of the Avenger's conning tower, which was a sensor blind spot. "Captain Solo, this time you have gone too far!" 3PO complained.

Chewbacca gave an angry roar, telling the moaning droid to shut up.

"No, I will NOT be quite, Chewbacca! Why doesn't anyone listen to me?" 3PO continued to complain.

"Fleet's beginnin' to break up." Han observed, watching the Star Destroyers breaking formation. "Go back and stand by the manual release for the landing claw." he ordered Chewbacca, who got up to do so and Juno took his place in the co-pilot's seat.

"I really don't see how that is going to help." 3PO continued to complain. "Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances. The Empire may be gracious enough..."

Kali reached over and pressed 3PO's off switch, cutting his moaning off mid-sentence. "Sorry, 3PO, but it's for ya own good." Kali muttered.

"Thank you." Han commented, having had enough of listening to the droid's endless complaining.

"What did ya have in mind for our next move?" Leia asked him.

"Yeah, we can't keep hanging here all day." Kali added.

"Well, if they follow standard Imperial procedure they'll dump their garbage before they go to lightspeed, then we just float away." Han said.

"With the rest of the garbage." Leia nodded. "Then what?"

"Then we've gotta find a safe port around here somewhere." Han replied. "Any ideas?"

"No." Leia shook her head. "Where are we?"

"The Anoat system." Juno replied, checking a star map on the scope.

"Anoat system, there's not much there." Leia shook her head.

"No." Han agreed, then he checked the map for himself. "Wait. This is interesting. Lando."

"The Lando system?" Leia raised a brow.

"Lando's not a system, he's a man." Han replied. "Lando Calrissian. He's this card player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him."

"Thanks." Leia scoffed.

Juno checked the map. "Bespin. How far is that from here?" she asked.

"Pretty far, but I think we can make it." Han replied. "It's about four days away at sub-light."

"A mining colony?" Kali read from the screen.

"Yeah, tibanna gas mine." Han replied. "Lando conned someone outta it. We go back a long way, Lando and me."

"Can you trust him?" Leia asked him.

"No..." Han admitted. "But he's got no love for the Empire, I can tell ya all that."

"That's not very reassuring, Han." Kali grunted.

"Looks like we've got no choice." Juno sighed. "We can't keep running on a ship without a working hyperdrive."

Han then saw that the Avenger was starting to dump it's rubbish. "Here we go, Chewie. Stand by." he said into the comlink. "Detach."

The Falcon began to drift away from the Avenger and floated amongst the rubbish being dumped from the Destroyer. "You do have your moments." Leia admitted to Han. "Not many of 'em, but ya do have them." And she gave Han a small kiss on his temple. Kali and Juno both exchanged smirks as they saw this.

The Avenger jumped to lightspeed, while the Falcon powered up and set off towards Bespin. Little did the Rebels know that a Firespray-class patrol ship had hidden amongst the rubbish and began to follow the Falcon. This was Slave 1, the personal ship of Boba Fett. Fett had seen through Han's trick and he was now following his quarry from a covert distance.

~8~

On Dagobah, Luke's training was continuing. Ever since witnessing Yoda levitate the X-wing out of the swamp, Luke was putting more and more effort into his training. Today's lesson saw him in the clearing behind Yoda's hut, standing on his head and using the Force to levitate R2 and some crates. "Concentrate." Yoda instructed. "Feel the Force flow. Yes. Good. Calm. Yes... Through the Force, things you will see, other places." Luke closed his eyes, reaching out with his feelings. "The future, the past." Yoda continued. "Old friends long gone."

Luke's eyes snapped open suddenly. "Kali! Juno! Han! Leia!" he exclaimed, and R2 and the crates all unceremoniously crashed to the ground. The droid beeped in annoyance at being dropped.

"Control, control. You must learn control." Yoda tutted as Luke tumbled over, landing on his back.

"I saw... I saw a city in the clouds." Luke said.

"Hmm. Friends you have there." Yoda observed.

"They were in pain." Luke breathed.

"It is the future you see." Yoda told him.

Luke paled. "Future? Will they die?" he asked as he got to his feet.

Yoda closed his eyes, reaching out through the Force. "Difficult to see." he answered as he opened his eyes. "Always in motion is the future."

Luke thought about his own vision. "I've gotta go to them." he said.

"Decide you must on how to serve them best." Yoda told him. "If you leave now, help them you could, but... you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

Luke was stopped cold by Yoda's words. Gloom shrouded him as he nodded his head sadly, unsure of what to do for the best.

~8~

After four days' travelling, the Millennium Falcon had arrived at the gas giant planet of Bespin. As the ship entered the planet's atmosphere, two sentry Cloud Cars came up alongside and Han was soon arguing with the pilots. "No, I don't have a landing permit. I'm tryin' to reach Lando Calrissian." he said, then one of the Cloud Cars fired a warning shot across the Falcon's bows, causing the ship to rock. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! Let me explain!" Han protested.

"You will not deviate from your present course." a Cloud Car pilot said bluntly over the radio.

"Rather touchy, aren't they?" Kali remarked.

"I thought you knew this person." Leia said to Han.

Chewbacca barked and growled at his boss, reminding Han that the last time they'd met Lando Calrissian, they hadn't parted on the best of terms.

"Well, that was a long time ago." Han tried to wave him off. "I'm sure he's forgotten all about that."

"Forgotten what, Hotshot?" Juno probed.

Before Han could answer, a Cloud Car pilot got him off the hook. "Permission granted. Land on platform 327."

"Thank you." Han acknowledged. "Nothing to worry about." he told his friends. "We go way back, Lando and me."

But the women weren't convinced. "Who's worried?" Leia asked no on in particular.

The Cloud Cars escorted the Falcon towards a vast floating metropolis in the sky, with gleaming white high-rise buildings and air-trams zipping about between them. Han and Chewbacca expertly piloted their ship through the city and settled into land on platform 327. The boarding ramp lowered and the Rebels disembarked to find the platform empty. "Oh, no one to meet us." 3PO remarked.

"I don't like this." Leia frowned.

"Me neither." Kali agreed.

"What would ya like?" Han scoffed

"Well, they did let us land." 3PO said.

"That means nothing." Juno told him. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Look, don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine." Han assured the women. "Trust me."

"If you say so, Han." Kali muttered, unconvinced, as a door at the end of the platform opened to reveal a group of men.

"See? My friend." Han said, and approached Chewbacca. "Keep ya eyes open, huh?" he whispered to the Wookie, then he walked off towards the men, who were walking towards him. Leading the group was a suave, dapper black man in his mid thirties. "Hey!" Han greeted him cheerfully.

"Why you slimy, double-crossin' no good swindler!" the black man snapped harshly. "You got a lot of guts comin' here, after what you pulled." Taken aback, Han could only shrug innocently. The black man then advanced menacingly towards him and for a moment, it looked like he was going to strike Han. Then he suddenly pulled Han into a bear hug and laughed. "How ya doin', ya old pirate? So good to see ya!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Well, he seems very friendly." 3PO commented as he and Chewbacca went over to them

"Yes... very friendly." Leia said warily as she, Kali and Juno followed cautiously.

"What're ya doing here?" the man asked Han happily

"Ah, repairs. I thought ya could help me out." Han replied, gesturing to the Falcon.

The man suddenly looked affronted. "What've you done my ship?!" he frowned

"Your ship?" Han asked indignantly. "Hey! Remember, ya lost it to me fair and square."

The man then turned to Chewbacca. "And how you doin', Chewbacca? he asked, getting a reserved reply from the Wookie. "You still hanging around with this loser?" Then he noticed the three women watching him with trepidation. "Hello, what have we here?" he said as he approached them, "Welcome. I'm Lando Calrissian. I'm the administrator of this facility. And who might you three lovely ladies be?"

"Leia." the Princess replied coolly.

"Welcome, Leia." Lando grinned, taking Leia's hand and kissing it.

Han at that point intervened. "Alright, alright. You old smoothie." he said, taking Leia's hand to show that Leia was taken.

Lando just turned to Kali and Juno. "And who might you two be?" he asked, flashing her a winning smile.

"Kali." the Princess' aide replied tightly.

"Very pleased to meet you, Kali." Lando purred, taking the young woman's hand and kissing it, then he turned to Juno. "And I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it." the Jedi replied coolly, then she and Kali began to follow Han and Leia towards the city.

3PO then stepped forward to introduce himself to Lando. "Hello, sir. I am C-3PO, Human-cyborg relations. My facilities are at your..."

But Lando wasn't paying attention to the droid as he was too busy watching Kali and Juno admiringly. "What's wrong with the Falcon?" he asked Han as he took the lead.

"Hyperdrive." Han replied.

"I'll get my people to work on it." Lando said, then he turned to the women. "Ya know, that ship saved my life quite a few times." he told them, trying to impress them. "She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!"

"Huh, you sound just like Han." Kali raised a brow.

The group were soon walking through the gleaming halls of Cloud City. "How's the gas mine? Still payin' off for ya?" Han asked Lando.

"Oh, not as well as I'd like." Lando replied, "We're a small outpost and not very self-sufficient. I've had supply problems of every kind, I've had labour difficulties..." He then caught Han sniggering at him. "What's so funny?" he asked him.

"You." Han replied. "Listen to you. You sound like a businessman, a responsible leader. Who'd have though that, huh?"

"Ya know, seeing you sure brings back a few things." Lando commented.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I'm responsible these days." Lando continued. "It's the price you pay for being successful."

As 3PO brought up the rear, his attention was suddenly caught by a silver Protocol droid coming out of a side room. "Oh, nice to see a familiar face." he commented.

"Echuta!" the silver droid cursed as it stalked off.

"How rude!" 3PO grumbled, then he heard a familiar beeping sound coming from the room the silver droid had left. "That sounds like an R2 unit in there." he said to himself. "I wonder if..." He ventured into the room. "Hello? How interesting."

"Who are you?!" a nasty-sounding voice demanded.

"Oh, my! I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to intrude!" 3PO blustered as he backed away towards the door. "No, please don't get up! No!" He was suddenly silenced by a blaster shot.

~8~

Juno shivered as she suddenly felt a disturbance in the Force. "You alright?" Kali asked her.

"Yeah..." Juno replied, distracted. "Just this feeling of mine."

"Is it Luke?" Kali asked. "Is he in danger?"

"No, it's not him..." Juno shook her head. "It's something near us."

~8~

Luke finished loading his supplies into the cargo bay of his X-wing. After several days of debating what to do, he'd decided to go and help his friends. "Luke, you must complete the training." Yoda told him

"I can't get that vision outta my head." Luke sighed. "They're my my friends, I've gotta help them!"

"You must not go!" Yoda insisted. Although he could foresee the fates of Juno and Luke's friends, he knew only too well that things would not end well for Luke if he rushed off like he was currently planning to.

"But they'll die if I don't!" Luke protested. "You don't know that." a familiar voice said, and Obi-Wan's Force spirit walked up alongside Yoda. "Even Yoda cannot see their fate." he told Luke.

"But I can help them!" Luke insisted. "I feel the Force."

"But you cannot control it." Obi-Wan countered. "This is a dangerous time for you... when you will be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force."

"Yes, yes. To Obi-Wan you listen." Yoda concurred. "The cave. Remember your failure at the cave?"

"But I've learnt so much since then." Luke protested as he finished cleaning the reeds off his fighter. "Master Yoda, I promise to return and finish what I've begun, you have my word."

"It is you and your abilities the Emperor wants." Obi-Wan told him. "That is why Juno and your friends are made to suffer."

"That's why I have to go." Luke answered back.

"Luke, I don't want to loose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader." Obi-Wan sighed, trying desperately to make Luke see sense.

"You won't." Luke said cockily.

"Stopped they must be. On this all depends. Only a fully-trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor." Yoda said wisely. "If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did... you will become an agent of evil."

"Patience." Obi-Wan advised Luke.

"And sacrifice Kali, Juno, Han and Leia?" the young man snapped.

"If you honour what they fight for... yes." Yoda told him bluntly.

"Juno is in trouble." Luke said to Obi-Wan. "She's your pupil. How can you sit back and watch her suffer?"

"I trained Juno for 19 years and I know that she can take care of herself." Obi-Wan countered. "If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere."

Luke mulled over this ultimatum. "I understand." For a moment, the two old Jedi thought that they'd gotten through to Luke, then... "R2?" he called up to the droid, who was back in his socket in the X-wing. "Fire up the converters."

R2 beeped in acknowledgment and started the X-wing's ignition sequence as Luke climbed into the cockpit.

"Luke, don't give into hate." Obi-Wan warned him. "That leads to the Dark Side."

"Strong is Vader. Mind what you have learned." Yoda advised. "Save you it can."

"I will." Luke acknowledged as he slipped his helmet on. "And I'll return, I promise." he finished as the cockpit canopy closed.

Yoda and Obi-Wan watched as the X-wing lifted off from Dagobah and soared into the sky. "Told you I did. Reckless is he. Now, matters are worse." Yoda sighed wearily.

"That boy is our last hope." Obi-Wan murmured.

"No... there is another." Yoda murmured.

~8~

Luke's X-wing left orbit of Dagobah and made the jump to lightspeed, destination: Bespin.

Author's notes: And here's the arrival on Bespin and the introduction of Lando Calrissian. Lando is a fun character to write, with his ladies man persona. Here, he gets not one, not two, but three women to try his charms on. Of course, it won't work, as Leia and Kali are both taken, while Juno is immune to the charm. Once again, the ladies don't get to do much here, but they should get more to do once the Empire springs it''s trap. So, until next time, then.