Into the Void: Star Wars (Dawn of the Jedi) (50 page)

“Great,” Han said sarcastically. “Once we make hyperspace, I’ll take their drink orders.”

“Oh, come on,” Luke chided him. “Anyway, you think
this
bunch is stiff, you should have seen the ones who got out on the earlier transports.
These are just the techs who were in charge of packing up the last few crates of equipment.”

Han grimaced. Crates which were currently filling the
Falcon
’s holds, leaving no room for paying cargo even if he managed to find some on the
way to the rendezvous. This was going to be a complete, 100 percent charity run, like
everything else he and Chewbacca had done for Luke and his new friends in the Rebel
Alliance. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen plenty of useless techs before,” he muttered.

He was waiting for Luke to come to the techs’ defense when a splatter of laserfire
ricocheted off the rear deflector. “What the—” he snarled, throwing the
Falcon
into a tight drop loop.

The instinctive maneuver probably saved their skins. Another burst shot through the
space they’d just left, this one coming from a different direction. Han twisted the
ship back around, hoping fleetingly that their passengers were still strapped in,
then took a second to check the aft display.

One glance at the half dozen mismatched ships rising behind them was all he needed.
“Pirates,” he snapped to the others, throwing power to the engines and angling the
ship upward. Facing pirates deep inside a planet’s gravity well, with no cover and
no chance of quick escape to hyperspace, was about the worst situation a pilot could
encounter.

And even the
Falcon
couldn’t outmaneuver this many ships forever. “Chewie, get us up and out,” he said,
throwing off his straps. “Come on, Luke.”

The kid was already on it, heading down the cockpit tunnel at a dead run. Han followed,
rounding the corner
in time to see Luke duck past the passengers crammed into the wraparound seat and
head up the ladder to the upper quad laser station. “Captain?” one of the passengers
called.

“Save it,” Han shot back, grabbing the ladder and sliding down toward the lower quads.
He caught himself as the gravity around him did its ninety-degree shift, then dropped
into the seat.

It looked even worse from down here than it had from the cockpit. A second wave of
pirate ships had joined the first, this group pumping laserfire all around the edges
of the first group, forming a deadly cylinder of death around the
Falcon
’s flight vector. They were trying to force their prey to stay on that line so that
the first group could chase them down.

Well, they were in for a surprise. Keying the quads with one hand, he snagged his
headset with the other and jammed it on. “Luke?”

“I’m here. Any particular strategy, or do we just start with the biggest and see how
fast we can blow them apart?”

Han frowned as he got a grip on the control yoke, an odd idea whispering at him. The
way that second wave was positioned … “You go for that big lead ship,” he said. “I’m
going to try something cute.”

Luke’s reply was a blast of laserfire squarely into the lead pirate’s bow.

The other ship swerved violently in reaction—clearly, they hadn’t expected this kind
of firepower from a simple light freighter. The pilot recovered quickly, though, settling
the ship back into its position in the battle array. The entire lead wave moved closer
together, closing ranks to get maximum protection from their overlapping shields.
Han watched closely, waiting for the obvious next move, and heard the twitter from
his display
board as the lead ships all shifted shield power to doublefront.

Which meant they’d just unavoidably lowered the strength of their aft shields. Perfect.
“Chewie—dip and waffle,” he ordered into his comm. The
Falcon
dropped suddenly in response, and for a second the rear wave of ships was visible
past the edges of the first wave’s shields. Han was ready, firing a double burst past
the lead wave into the flank of the biggest second-wave ship, sending it into a violent
swerve as its primary maneuvering system was blown to bits.

And as it did, the laserfire that had been forming that part of the
Falcon
’s entrapment ring sprayed with shattering force across the sterns of the lead-wave
ships.

It was everything Han could have hoped for. Two of the smaller ships veered instantly
and violently out of formation as their engine sections blew up. The first ricocheted
a glancing blow off one of the other pirates on its way to oblivion, while the second
slammed full-tilt into another. They fell away together, with Luke taking advantage
of the distraction to blow one of the other lead ships into fiery dust.

Then, to Han’s shock and disbelief, the
Falcon
dropped and turned into a curving arc back toward the planet’s surface. “Chewie?”
he snarled. “What in—”

The Wookiee growled a warning. Frowning, Han craned his neck to look in the direction
Chewie was facing as the familiar shape of an Imperial Star Destroyer swung into view
around the dark edge of the planetary disk.

“Han!” Luke gasped.

“I see it, I see it,” Han said, his mind racing. Clearly, the Rebel cell on Teardrop
had gotten out just in time.

Except that the last half a dozen members of that cell were currently sitting a couple
of meters directly above him in the
Falcon
’s lounge. If the Imperials caught them here …

Then his brain caught up to him, and he understood what Chewbacca had been doing with
that last maneuver. “Luke, shut down,” he ordered, slapping the switches on his own
quads. The last thing he wanted was for the Imperials to do a power scan and see that
the
Falcon
had this kind of weaponry. “Chewie, give me comm.”

There was a click—“Emergency!” he called, putting desperation into his voice. “Incoming
freighter
Argos
requesting assistance from Teardrop planetary defenses.”

There was no answer from the ground, of course. Given the shady character of most
of the planet’s residents and visitors, Han wasn’t even sure they
had
a real defense force down there. But then, he didn’t especially care if anyone on
Teardrop heard him or not. All he cared about was—

“Freighter
Argos
, state your intention and emergency,” a clipped military voice responded.

“Medical mercy team from Briston, responding to the recent groundquake on Por’ste
Island,” Han called back. Behind the
Falcon
, he saw, the remaining pirate ships were re-forming to continue the attack. Apparently
they hadn’t noticed Teardrop’s newest visitor. “We’re under attack—I think they’re
pirates.”

“
Argos
, acknowledged,” the voice said. “Hold your present course.”

“But if I do—”

He never got to finish his token protest. Behind him a two-by-two group of brilliant
green turbolaser bolts sliced across the pirates’ formation, blasting four of the
ships into rubble.

This time they got the message. The survivors broke formation and headed off in all
directions, some back toward the ground, others trying to escape into hyperspace.

Neither option worked. Calmly, systematically, precisely, the Star Destroyer continued
to fire, blasting the pirates one by one until the
Falcon
was flying alone.

“Now what?” Luke murmured in Han’s earphone.

Han ignored him. “Many thanks, Captain,” he called. “Glad to see the Empire is taking
this pirate problem seriously.”

“You’re welcome,
Argos
,” a new voice said. “Now turn around and go home.”

“What?” Han demanded, trying to sound both outraged and stunned. “But, Captain—”

“That’s an order,
Argos
,” the other cut him off tartly. “As of right now Teardrop is under Imperial interdiction.
Go back to Briston and wait until the block has been lifted.”

Han allowed himself a sigh. “Understood,” he murmured, careful to maintain a straight
face. Sometimes a particularly clever and perceptive man could sense a satisfied grin
even over an audio comm channel. Not that this particular Imperial appeared to be
either clever
or
perceptive. “You heard him, pilot,” he continued. “Turn us around. Again, Captain,
thanks for the rescue.”

He climbed out of the quad seat and headed back up the ladder. “Captain Solo, I demand
to know what’s happening,” one of the passengers said stiffly as Han crossed the lounge
on his way back to the cockpit.

“We’re taking you to the rendezvous,” Han told him, putting on his best puzzled-and-innocent
look. “Why?”

Before the other could recover enough to try the question again, Han had made his
escape.

Chewbacca had them well on their way out of Teardrop’s gravity well by the time Han
dropped into his seat. “Nice move, Chewie,” he said as he keyed for a status report.
The attack had added a few new dents to the aft armor plating, but considering how
many there were already, it wasn’t likely anyone would notice. “It’s
always nice when we can obey an Imperial order. For a change.”

Behind them, Luke came into the cockpit. “He actually bought it?” he asked, leaning
over Han’s shoulder to gaze out at the Star Destroyer in the distance.

“Why not?” Han countered. “He saw us heading in, and we
told
him we were heading in. Sometimes you just have to help people think what you want
them to.”

“I suppose,” Luke said, still sounding doubtful. “They still might have decided to
board and search us.”

“Not a chance,” Han said. “Just because they ride around in big fancy ships doesn’t
make them smart. They’re here to hunt Rebels, not inspect cargo. Once Chewie had us
turned back inward, the only real question was whether the captain would feel like
giving his gunners some target practice.”

“Too bad they’ll never know what they missed,” Luke murmured, taking a last look and
then sitting back down. “Sure glad you two are on
our
side.”

Han frowned over his shoulder. But Luke was peering at the nav computer display, apparently
completely oblivious to what he’d just said. Han shifted his gaze to Chewbacca, to
find the Wookiee looking sideways at
him
. “What?” he demanded.

The other shrugged his massive shoulders and turned back to his board. Han glanced
at Luke again, but the kid had apparently missed the byplay completely.

He turned back to his board, a sour taste in his mouth.
Our side
. Luke’s side, in other words.
And
Princess Leia Organa’s side,
and
General Rieekan’s, and probably the whole blasted Rebellion’s.

Trouble was, Han couldn’t for the life of him remember when the Rebellion had become
his
side.

So he’d dusted those TIE fighters off Luke during that lunatic Yavin battle. Big deal.
That had been strictly a favor to the kid, and maybe a little payback for the way
the Imperials had dragged him aboard the Death Star and then walked all over the
Falcon
with their grubby feet. He didn’t mind the Rebels being grateful for that.

But it didn’t mean he’d enlisted in the Big Cause.

Chewbacca was all set to do so, of course. His personal history with the Empire, plus
the way they had treated his people in general, had left him with a deep hatred for
them. He would enlist in the Rebellion in a heartbeat if Han gave the okay.

But Han wasn’t going to let anyone’s passion drive him on this one. Not Chewie’s,
and certainly not Luke’s. He had his own life to lead.

The Star Destroyer was settling into orbit as the
Falcon
made the jump to lightspeed.

With a final burst, more felt than really heard, the
Reprisal
’s turbolasers fell silent.

Seated on the portside bench in the number three stormtrooper drop ship, Daric LaRone
notched up his helmet’s audio enhancers, wondering if the battle might be continuing
with a more distant set of the Star Destroyer’s weapons banks. But he could hear nothing,
and after a moment he eased the enhancement back down again. “Wonder what that was
all about,” he murmured.

Beside him, Saberan Marcross shrugged slightly, the movement eliciting a slight crackle
from his armor. “Maybe the Rebels tried to make a run for it,” he murmured back.

“If they did, they didn’t get very far,” Taxtro Grave commented from his seat on the
starboard bench, shifting his grip on his long BlasTech T-28 repeating sniper rifle.

“Look at the bright side,” Joak Quiller suggested from beside him. “If they’re all
dead, we can cancel this op and go someplace more promising.”

“Whoever’s talking back there, stow it,” an authoritative voice called from the front
of the drop ship.

“Yes, sir,” Marcross answered for all of them.

LaRone leaned out slightly to look at the scowling officer seated by Lieutenant Colf.
Emblazoned across his chest were the rank bars of a major; above the insignia was
a face LaRone couldn’t remember ever seeing before. “Who
is
that?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

“Major Drelfin,” Marcross whispered back. “ISB.”

LaRone leaned back again, a chill running through him. The Imperial Security Bureau
was the darkest and most brutal of Emperor Palpatine’s tools. “What’s he doing on
the
Reprisal
?”

“Someone up the chain must have decided we needed extra help,” Marcross said. His
tone was carefully neutral, but LaRone knew him well enough to recognize the contempt
beneath the words. “They brought in a few ISB men to direct the assault.”

LaRone grimaced. “I see,” he said, matching the other’s tone.

From the drop ship’s cockpit came a warning buzz. “Stand by for drop,” the pilot called.
“Drop in five.”

LaRone looked across the aisle at Quiller, noting the other’s subtle squirming. Quiller
was himself an excellent pilot, and consequently a rotten passenger. “Easy,” he murmured.

Quiller cocked his head slightly, and LaRone smiled at the strained-patient expression
he knew the other was giving him from behind the anonymous white helmet faceplate.