Star Wars Trilogy

by Ryder Windham

  Leia jerked her head away from Tarkin’s hand and said, “I’m surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself!”

  Tarkin said, “Princess Leia, before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.”

  If Leia was even slightly frightened, she didn’t show it. She said, “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”

  “Not after we demonstrate the power of this station,” Tarkin informed her with confidence. “In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station’s destructive power…on your home planet of Alderaan.” He gestured to the viewport.

  At the sight of her homeworld, Leia’s confident expression became suddenly fearful. “No!” she protested. “Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons. You can’t possibly—”

  “You would prefer another target?” Tarkin interrupted. “A military target? Then name the system!”

  Leia thought, He’s insane. He’s completely insane.

  Tarkin continued, “I grow tired of asking this. So it’ll be the last time.” He advanced toward Leia, forcing her to step backward into Vader. “Where is the Rebel base?”

  Leia trembled against Vader. There are billions of people on Alderaan! What can I do to save them? She gazed past Tarkin’s shoulder to look again at Alderaan on the viewport. “Dantooine,” she said, then lowered her head. “They’re on Dantooine.”

  “There,” Tarkin said with satisfaction. “You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable.” Then Tarkin turned to Admiral Motti and said, “Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready.”

  “What?” Leia gasped as Motti stepped away to a control console.

  “You’re far too trusting,” Tarkin said. “Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don’t worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough.”

  Leia stepped toward Tarkin and cried, “No!” Then she felt Vader’s cold, tight grip on her arm, pulling her back to him and away from Tarkin.

  An intercom voice announced, “Commence primary ignition.”

  Leia heard the sounds of generators powering up, but kept her stunned eyes on the viewscreen. Even from space, Alderaan was lushly beautiful, its grassy plains making the world resemble an emerald amidst the stars. Before Leia became a Senator, she had spent most of her youth on the green world. She knew its geography so well that she could—from her perspective on the Death Star—pinpoint the capital, Aldera, where she’d grown up…where her father still lived. She wondered what time it was, if he was in their home right now.

  Father, I’m so sorry.

  Leia couldn’t believe that all her friends and loved ones, every person and every cherished place was about to be annihilated. And all because no one had opposed the Empire before the construction of the Death Star. Even as she saw the space station’s green laser beam streak out at her homeworld, Leia prayed for the Death Star to fail.

  But it didn’t. And in one explosive instant, Alderaan was gone.

  Luke was in the Millennium Falcon’s hold, testing his lightsaber against a small, hovering remote target globe when Ben suddenly turned away and sat down near the engineering station. Seeing that Ben seemed almost faint, Luke switched off his lightsaber and asked, “Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

  “I felt a great disturbance in the Force,” Ben said. “As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” He rubbed his eyes. Not wanting to worry Luke, he added, “You’d better get on with your exercises.”

  Luke nodded and turned away from Ben. He glanced to the corner seat, where Chewbacca and R2-D2 were competing at the holographic game table, with C-3PO serving as referee.

  Luke stepped back to the center of the hold, activated his lightsaber, and returned his attention to the hovering remote. Ben had rightly assumed that Han kept a remote on board for quick-draw target practice, and had programmed the device to fire harmless sting bursts for Luke to deflect with his lightsaber. Luke kept his eyes on the remote and batted at two fired bursts as Han Solo entered the hold.

  “Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial ships,” Han said as he took a seat at the engineering station. “I told you I’d outrun ‘em.”

  Han looked around the hold. Luke continued swinging his lightsaber at sting bursts from the remote. Chewie and the droids continued playing their game. Ben looked like he had a headache.

  Han grumbled, “Don’t everybody thank me at once. Anyway, we should be at Alderaan at about oh two hundred hours.”

  Han looked back to the action at the game table. From the holographic creatures that appeared to stand upon the table’s gold-and-green-checkered patterned surface, Han could see Chewbacca and R2-D2 were playing dejarik. R2-D2 moved a multilegged blue houjix. Chewbacca countered by sending his Kintan Strider—a yellow-skinned biped that carried a club—two steps across the table. Han thought Chewie looked pleased with himself.

  C-3PO said, “Now be careful, Artoo.”

  R2-D2 moved his Mantellian savrip—a hunched-over creature with a snakelike neck and long, powerful arms—over to Chewbacca’s just-moved Kintan Strider. The savrip seized the Kintan Strider, hoisted it up, then smashed it down upon the gametable.

  Chewbacca growled angrily at R2-D2.

  “He made a fair move,” C-3PO observed in response. “Screaming about it can’t help you.”

  Han said, “Let him have it. It’s not wise to upset a Wookiee.”

  Turning to face Han, C-3PO said indignantly, “But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.”

  Han grinned. “That’s because a droid don’t pull people’s arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.”

  C-3PO looked at Chewbacca, who raised his arms and cupped his hands behind his head, flexing his hirsute muscles. C-3PO turned back to Han and said, “I see your point, sir.” Leaning over to R2-D2, C-3PO advised, “I suggest a new strategy, Artoo-Detoo. Let the Wookiee win.”

  R2-D2 answered with a surprised beep. Chewbacca chortled happily.

  When Ben felt somewhat recovered, he resumed watching Luke’s practice with the remote. Luke’s eyes followed the remote with intense concentration, but his movements were stiff, not relaxed. Ben said, “Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him.”

  Luke said, “You mean it controls your actions?”

  “Partially,” Ben said. “But it also obeys your commands.”

  The remote hovered in a wide arc around Luke, then made a lightning-swift lunge and emitted a laser beam. At the engineering station, Han looked up just in time to see the beam strike Luke’s leg.

  Han laughed. “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”

  Luke deactivated his lightsaber and glared at Han. “You don’t believe in the Force, do you?”

  Han shook his head. “Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny.”

  Ben smiled quietly at Han’s comment.

  Han continued, “It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.”

  Ben rose from his seat. “I suggest you try it again, Luke,” he said, picking up a blast shield helmet from the engineering station. He placed the helmet over Luke’s head and lowered the shield so it covered Luke’s eyes. “This time, let go of your conscious self and act on instinct.”

  Luke laughed. “With the blast shield down, I can’t even see. How am I supposed to fight?”

  “Your eyes can deceive you,” Ben said. “Don’t trust them.”
/>
  Luke activated his lightsaber and assumed a ready stance. The remote hovered up and moved around his body. Don’t trust my eyes? I can barely hear the remote! I think it’s on my left.…No, it’s…

  Luke was stung by another laserbolt.

  …it’s not where I thought it was.

  Ben said, “Stretch out with your feelings.”

  Keeping the helmet on and his blade activated, Luke resumed a ready stance. He stopped thinking about the remote, just stopped thinking and relaxed, and…somehow, he sensed the remote’s proximity. Stranger still, he seemed able to anticipate its movement through the air.

  The remote fired three bursts in quick succession. Despite his blocked vision, Luke moved fast with his lightsaber and deftly parried each shot.

  He switched off his lightsaber and pulled off the helmet. Ben sounded glad when he said, “You see, you can do it.”

  Han said, “I call it luck.”

  Ben replied, “In my experience, there is no such thing as luck.”

  Han would not be convinced. “Look, good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living? That’s something else.” A light flashed on a scope at the engineering station. “Looks like we’re coming up on Alderaan.”

  Han rose from his seat and headed out of the hold to the cockpit. Chewbacca followed him.

  Facing Ben, Luke said, “You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote.”

  “That’s good,” Ben told his new pupil, placing a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “You have taken your first step into a larger world.”

  On the Death Star, Imperial Officer Cass, a white-haired adjutant to Grand Moff Tarkin, entered the conference room. He found Darth Vader standing at one end of the round table at the room’s center, with Tarkin seated across from him at the other end. Tarkin looked up from the table’s data screen and said, “Yes.”

  “Our scout ships have reached Dantooine,” Officer Cass reported. “They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems.” Having delivered his report, Cass turned and exited the room.

  “She lied!” Tarkin was outraged, rising from the table to approach Vader. “She lied to us!”

  Indeed, that was just what Princess Leia had done. Vader said, “I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion.”

  Tarkin scowled at Vader. “Terminate her…immediately!”

  Blue-and-white shimmers of energy flowed past the Falcon as it neared the end of its trip through hyperspace. Han and Chewbacca were seated in the cockpit. Han said, “Stand by, Chewie. Here we go.” He threw a lever to kill the hyperdrive, then added, “Cut in the sub-light engines.”

  The Falcon decelerated and dropped into realspace. The energy shimmers that had been visible outside the cockpit window were replaced by a field of distant stars, along with an immediate barrage of unexpected debris.

  “What the…?” Han said as floating chunks of matter hammered at the Falcon’s particle shields. “Aw, we’ve come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower. Some kind of asteroid collision. It’s not on any of the charts.”

  Responding to the hammering racket outside the ship, Luke and Ben entered the cockpit. Luke stood behind Chewbacca’s seat and asked, “What’s going on?”

  Han explained, “Our position is correct, except…no Alderaan!”

  “What do you mean?” Luke didn’t understand. “Where is it?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, kid. It ain’t there. It’s been totally blown away.”

  “What? How?”

  From behind Chewbacca, Ben said, “Destroyed…by the Empire!”

  Han was doubtful. “The entire starfleet couldn’t destroy the whole planet. It’d take a thousand ships with more firepower than I’ve—” An alarm sounded and Han glanced at a sensor scope. “There’s another ship coming in.”

  Luke said, “Maybe they know what happened.”

  Without yet seeing the other ship, Ben said, “It’s an Imperial fighter.”

  As if in response to Ben’s words, a huge explosion burst outside the cockpit window, then an Imperial TIE fighter streaked past the Falcon. The Twin Ion Engine ship was immediately recognizable by its two hexagonal solar array wings on either side of a small, spherical command pod.

  Luke said, “It followed us!”

  “No,” Ben observed. “It’s a short-range fighter.”

  Han said, “There aren’t any bases around here. Where did it come from?”

  “It sure is leaving in a big hurry,” Luke noticed as the TIE fighter sped away from the Falcon. “If they identify us, we’re in big trouble.”

  “Not if I can help it,” Han said, steering after the TIE fighter and away from the planetary debris. “Chewie—jam its transmissions.”

  “It’d be as well to let it go,” Ben said. “It’s too far out of range.”

  “Not for long…” Han increased power to the sub-light engines.

  Ben said, “A fighter that size couldn’t get this deep into space on its own.”

  Luke added, “Then he must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy, or something.…”

  Han said, “Well, he ain’t going to be around long enough to tell anybody about us.”

  “Look at him,” Luke said. “He’s heading for that small moon.”

  Han saw the moon too, and said, “I think I can get him before he gets there…he’s almost in range.”

  Ben went rigid in his seat. “That’s no moon! It’s a space station.”

  Han replied, “It’s too big to be a space station.” But even before he’d finished, Han sounded doubtful of his own words. Like the others in the cockpit, he could now make out surface details on the object in view, and the details had an unnatural symmetry.

  Luke said, “I have a very bad feeling about this.”

  “Turn the ship around!” Ben insisted.

  “Yeah,” Han agreed. “I think you’re right. Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power.”

  Chewbacca did as instructed, but the Falcon began to shake violently and continued to travel after the TIE fighter and toward the object, which was now clearly visible as a space station.

  “Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power,” Han repeated, shouting over the noise of the shaking ship.

  Hanging on to his seat, Luke said, “Why are we still moving toward it?”

  “We’re caught in a tractor beam!” Han explained. “It’s pulling us in.”

  Tractor beams were modified force fields that immobilized objects and moved them within the range of the beam projector. Hangar bays and spaceports generally used tractor beams to help guide ships to safe landings, but the beams could also be used to capture enemy ships. And in this case, it seemed the Falcon was someone’s enemy.

  The Falcon’s engines and deflector shields were ineffective for escape. By attempting to send the ship into full reverse, Han was only producing friction within the tractor beam, hence the shaking. The tractor beam also immobilized the Falcon’s weapons, rendering them useless; any attempt to fire at the space station would likely cause the weapons themselves to blow up.

  Luke said, “There’s gotta be something you can do!”

  “There’s nothin’ I can do about it, kid,” Han said. “I’m in full power. I’m going to have to shut down. But they’re not going to get me without a fight!” Han powered down the engines and the Falcon stopped shaking.

  “You can’t win,” Ben told Han. “But there are alternatives to fighting.”

  Luke couldn’t imagine what Ben had in mind, but he hoped the plan didn’t require much time. At the speed the Falcon was traveling toward the space station, time was something they just didn’t have.

  The tractor beam pulled the Millennium Falcon straight toward the Death Star’s equatorial trench. Along the trench’s walls, laser turret cannons tracked the captured ship as it was drawn toward a docking bay. Because of the space st
ation’s enormous size, the docking bay—from a distance—resembled little more than a small slot that neighbored other slots within the trench. The bay was without visible doors and its interior appeared to be exposed to the vacuum of space, an illusion created by a transparent magnetic field that shielded and contained the docking bay’s pressurized atmosphere.

  Over an Imperial intercom, a voice announced, “Clear Bay Three-twenty-seven. We are opening the magnetic field.” The field opened, allowing the Falcon to pass through the slotlike doorway and hover into Docking Bay 327, a wide hangar with a gleaming black deck. After the tractor beam safely deposited the Falcon on the deck beside a deep elevator well, the Imperial soldiers prepared to enter the docking bay.

  “To your stations!” a black-uniformed Imperial officer commanded a group of stormtroopers in a chamber that adjoined the hangar. The officer turned to another officer and said, “Come with me.”

  The stormtroopers quickly took up position around the captured Corellian freighter. An officer ordered, “Close all outboard shields! Close all outboard shields!”

  Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader were still in the conference room when an intercom buzzed. Tarkin pushed a button and said, “Yes.”

  From the intercom, an Imperial officer announced, “We’ve captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley.”

  Vader said, “They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess. She may yet be of some use to us.”

  After Vader was informed of the captured freighter’s location, he swept out of the conference room and headed for Docking Bay 327.

  As Darth Vader entered the hangar that contained the Millennium Falcon, a voice over the intercom said, “Unlock one, five, seven, and nine. Release charges.” Vader walked past the elevator well and the stormtroopers who stood guard on the hangar floor, and approached the Falcon’s lowered landing ramp.

  A gray-uniformed Imperial captain and a pair of stormtroopers stepped down the landing ramp. The captain stopped in front of Vader and said, “There’s no one on board, sir. According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned.”