Heirs of the Force

21

“Hang on!” Han Solo yelled.

As the Millennium Falcon lifted off from the trampled landing area in front of the ancient temple, Tenel Ka struggled to a seat beside Lowbacca and strapped herself in.

“That TIE fighter’s coming in, and it looks mean,” Han said as he and his Wookiee copilot frantically set switches and calibrated the weapons targeting systems. “Hope Tionne managed to get all the Jedi trainees to safety.”

Their seats tilted back as the Falcon angled up into the air, its sublight thrusters roaring behind it. The Imperial TIE fighter broke through the sky overhead like a yowling battering ram.

Han Solo looked grim as he gripped the controls. His jaw was set, his shoulders rigid, At the moment he had no way of knowing whether his children were safe, or if this Imperial enemy had killed them both, just as the pilot had tried to blast Lowbacca and Tenel Ka.

Tenel Ka wished she could give him some reassurance, but she knew nothing herself. Still panting with exhaustion from her long run through the jungle, she adjusted the restraints across the reptilian armor on her chest. At her side Em Teedee’s thin, warbly voice spoke up. “I beg your pardon, Mistress Tenel Ka, but I can’t see a thing! Your crash webbing has blocked my optical sensors.”

When Tenel Ka freed the flat, silvery device from its restraints, Em Teedee let out what sounded like a sigh of relief. “Ah, yes, much better. Now I can see perfectly. Oh, dear!” he said in alarm. “I didn’t want you to rescue me from that dreadful jungle just so we could all be blown up chasing that TIE fighter.”

Lowbacca grunted and looked over at the small translating droid with obvious surprise and relief.

“This is yours, Lowbacca,” Tenel Ka said. “I found it in the jungle.” She handed Em Teedee to the young Wookiee, who accepted the little droid gratefully, bleating his thanks.

Han Solo spun the Falcon around in a tight arc, its engines rumbling behind them as they pursued the TIE fighter. “He’s coming in on an attack run,” Han said. “But he’s not firing his weapons for some reason.”

Through the cockpit windows, Tenel Ka watched as the TIE fighter she had helped to repair zoomed low over the Great Temple, seemingly bent on destruction—but its laser cannons did not fire.

“I’m going to get his attention, Chewie,” Han said. “You open a comm channel. That guy did something to my kids—and I want to find out where they are.”

Chewbacca growled and reached with his long hairy arm to toggle a few switches on the Millennium Falcon’s control panel.

Han fired two warning shots. Bolts of brilliant light streaked past the squarish planar wings of the Imperial craft-bracketing it, but doing no damage.

“Attention, TIE pilot,” Han said. “You’re going nowhere if I don’t find out where…” He paused.”… the two young Jedi Knights are. You’re in the middle of my targeting cross, so your choices are simple: surrender, or we blow you out of the sky.”

A gruff voice came back over the comm systems. “Surrender is betrayal,” the pilot said, then broke the connection.

The TIE fighter zoomed upward on an impossibly steep trajectory, climbing into the air above the dense green treetops. Then the Imperial ship wheeled about in an evasive maneuver.

“All right,” Han said, his anger evident. “This old ship has taken on plenty of TIE fighters in its day. We can take on one more. Punch it, Chewie.”

The Falcon lunged forward in another burst of speed as Chewbacca worked the controls.

Em Teedee wailed, “Oh, no! I can’t watch. Somebody cover my optical sensors.”

Han spared a second to glance back at the droid, and found Lowbacca cradling Em Teedee in his lap. “Just like having See-Threepio with us again. I think we may have to adjust that programming.”

“Oh, dear,” Em Teedee said.

In the back Lowbacca grumbled a suggestion, which his uncle seconded loudly.

“Good idea,” Han said. “Let’s try the tractor beam first. Maybe—just maybe—we can bring that ship to the ground without destroying it. That way we can get some information. If we say ‘Please,’ he might be a little more cooperative.”

Chewbacca worked the Falcon’s tractor beam generator, casting out the invisible beam like a force-field net to grab the Imperial ship.

The TIE fighter lurched and jerked to one side as the tractor beam snagged a partial hold—but the pilot alternated bursts from his twin ion engines and tore free, spinning upward in a tight corkscrew that made Han whistle with reluctant admiration.

“This guy’s good,” he said. “After him, Chewie! Full speed.”

The TIE fighter, as if seeing it as his one chance for escape, darted back down toward the rough greenery of Massassi trees. It dodged jagged branches that thrust up like blackened witches’ fingers where lightning and forest fires had burned the jungle, dipped down to trace the winding courses of rivers, and streaked over lush canyons—all with the Millennium Falcon following in hot pursuit.

If it were only a matter of speed, the Falcon’s more powerful engines could have outrun the TIE fighter and brought it down, but the small ship’s maneuverability among the dangerous treetops gave the Imperial pilot a definite advantage.

Han Solo, however, had greater determination. “What have you done with my kids?” he yelled into the comm channel.

It was obvious he expected no answer, but to everyone’s surprise, the pilot spoke back in a calculating voice. “They are your children, pilot? They were alive when I left them—but the jungle is a dangerous place. There’s no telling if they will last long enough for you to rescue them.”

Tenel Ka marveled at the brilliant strategy. “It’s a trick,” she said. “He wants you to break off the pursuit.”

“I know,” Han said, glancing back at her. His face was ashen. “But what if it’s true?”

The TIE pilot used Han’s brief hesitation to take his last best chance for escape: arrowing upward and bolting straight toward space. The twin ion engines roared through the thinning atmosphere.

Chewbacca yelped in reaction. Without waiting for Han to give the order, the Wookiee copilot pushed the accelerators to maximum. The Falcon, white heat rippling from its rear sublight engines, zoomed after the TIE fighter.

The acceleration slammed Tenel Ka back against her seat, and she grimaced as the tug of additional gravities stretched her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut. Beside her, Lowbacca grunted with the strain, but Han and Chewie seemed accustomed to putting such stress on their bodies.

The bright, milky-blue sky grew darker, turning a deep purplish color around them as they soared upward. The stars shone out as the Falcon pulled into the night of space. The blurry sphere of the great orange gas giant Yavin filled most of their cockpit windows.

The TIE fighter zigzagged to throw off pursuit, shifting course at random intervals and burning a great deal of energy.

“Maybe we can still wound his ship and pull him in,” Han said, his voice strained.

Chewbacca piloted the Falcon as Han controlled the weapons systems. “I can’t get a target lock,” Han said.

The TIE fighter zoomed above the green jewel of the jungle moon.

Arching around in a tight orbit, the Falcon clung to it, following closely. Han fired repeatedly with his laser cannons—but the scarlet bolts missed.

Han pounded his fist on the control panel. “Hold still for a minute!” he shouted.

Then, as if obliging, the TIE fighter paused in the middle of the weapons systems aim-point grid. The target lock flashed brightly, and Han gave a whoop of excitement.

“Gotcha!” he said, and depressed both sets of firing studs.

But at the last possible instant, the lone TIE fighter shot forward with a blaze of astonishing speed, becoming a molten metal point of light. It dwindled in the sudden distance, screaming forward with instant lightspeed—and plunged into hyperspace with a silent bang.

“It’s not my fault,” Han Solo said, gaping at the vanished target. He let his shaking hands fall away from the firing controls. “A TIE fighter doesn’t have lightspeed engines! It’s a short-range ship.”

Lowbacca grumbled an explanation, and Tenel Ka nodded.

“Jaina did what?” Han said in disbelief. “But that hyperdrive was for her to tinker with, not to install. She’s got a lot of explaining to do with I see her—” He broke off, suddenly realizing where the twins were.

“Forget the TIE fighter. Let’s go get the twins!” he said.

He changed the Falcon’s course and arrowed straight back down to the emerald-green sphere of the jungle moon of Yavin.