Tarkin glanced at Vader, then returned his gaze to the monitor. He anticipated with relish delivering the crushing blow to the Rebel Alliance.
C-3PO and R2-D2 went with Luke to the main hangar. Luke was now wearing a bright orange flight suit and carried a helmet adorned with Alliance emblems. In the hangar, flight crews rushed to make last-minute adjustments to the starfighters. Over a loudspeaker, a man’s voice said, “All flight troops, man your stations. All flight troops, man your stations.”
Stepping down to the hangar floor, Luke found Han and Chewbacca loading small boxes onto an armored military speeder. The boxes contained precious metals, the only form of currency that Han would accept from the Alliance. Han had insisted on the payment, even though the Rebels desperately needed the materials for repairing starships and equipment. Han appeared to be completely ignoring the activity of the Rebel flight crews and pilots.
Eyeing the box in Han’s hands, Luke said, “So…you got your reward and you’re just leaving, then?”
“That’s right, yeah!” Han said. “I got some old debts I got to pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn’t, you don’t think I’d be fool enough to stick around here, do you?”
Luke was silent, but inside, he fumed.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Han said. “You’re pretty good in a fight. I could use you.”
“Come on!” Luke snapped angrily. “Why don’t you take a look around? You know what’s about to happen, what they’re up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You’re turning your back on them.”
“What good’s a reward if you ain’t around to use it?” Han said as he loaded another box on the speeder. “Besides, attacking the battle station ain’t my idea of courage. It’s more like suicide.”
“All right,” Luke said. “Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?” He turned and started to walk off.
Han hesitated, then called out, “Hey, Luke…”
Luke stopped and turned. Then Han, despite himself, said, “May the Force be with you.”
Although Luke may have been surprised to hear those words from the same smuggler who’d claimed not to believe in the Force, he didn’t show it. He glanced down at the pile of boxes beside Han, then stared back at Solo for a moment before he turned away again.
As Luke walked off, Han caught Chewbacca’s gaze and said, “What’re you lookin’ at?” Han loaded another box onto the speeder and muttered, “I know what I’m doing.”
Scowling, Luke headed for his X-wing. Over the hangar’s loudspeaker, the controller’s voice announced, “All pilots to your stations. All pilots to your stations.”
Leia was walking with a group of Rebel soldiers when she saw Luke. She went to him and said, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s Han!” Luke replied, shaking his head. “I don’t know, I really thought he’d change his mind.”
“He’s got to follow his own path,” Leia said. “No one can choose it for him.”
Luke looked away. “I only wish Ben were here.”
Leia kissed Luke on the cheek, then moved off with the soldiers, heading for the war room.
Luke found his X-wing. C-3PO and R2-D2 were beside the starfighter, and two technicians were preparing to hoist R2-D2 up to the starfighter’s astromech socket. Luke was about to climb up the ladder to the cockpit when he heard a familiar voice call out, “Hey, Luke!”
Luke turned to face his best friend from Tatooine. “Biggs!” he shouted with surprise. Biggs was taller and slightly older than Luke, with dark hair and a mustache. Like Luke, he wore a Rebel pilot’s uniform and carried a helmet.
“Hey-ay-ay!” Biggs laughed, wrapping an arm around Luke’s shoulder.
“I don’t believe it!” Luke said.
“How are you?”
“Great!”
Biggs looked from Luke to the X-wing and asked, “You’re coming up with us?”
“I’ll be right up there with you,” Luke replied with a grin. “And have I got some stories to tell you!”
Just then, a deep voice called out, “Skywalker!” Luke and Biggs stopped talking and turned to face Garven Dreis, a veteran pilot and the leader of Red Squadron, the X-wing unit that included Luke and Biggs. Dreis looked skeptically at Luke, then gestured to the X-wing and said, “You sure you can handle this ship?”
Before Luke could answer, Biggs said, “Sir, Luke is the best bush pilot in the Outer Rim territories.”
Apparently, that was good enough for Dreis. He grinned at Luke and said, “You’ll do all right.”
“Thank you, sir,” Luke said. “I’ll try.”
Dreis walked off to another X-wing. Biggs saw that his own X-wing was ready for liftoff and said, “I’ve got to get aboard. Listen, you’ll tell me your stories when we come back. All right?” He started to head off.
“Biggs,” Luke said, and his friend stopped and turned. Beaming with pride, Luke continued, “I told you I’d make it someday.”
“Be like old times, Luke,” Biggs said. “They’ll never stop us!” Biggs walked fast to his starfighter.
As Luke climbed up the ladder to his own X-wing, he looked to the two crewmen who were about to ease R2-D2 into the astromech socket. The crew chief said, “That R2 unit of yours seems a bit beat-up. Do you want a new one?”
“Not on your life!” Luke said. “That little droid and I have been through a lot together.” Luke looked directly at the plucky astromech and said, “You okay, Artoo-Detoo?”
R2-D2 beeped enthusiastically.
“Good!” Luke said as he hopped into the cockpit and pulled on his helmet.
“Okay, easy!” said the crew chief as R2-D2 was lowered into his snug socket.
Still standing beside the X-wing, C-3PO looked up to R2-D2 and said, “Hang on tight, Artoo, you’ve got to come back.”
R2-D2 beeped in agreement.
The protocol droid said, “You wouldn’t want my life to get boring, would you?”
R2-D2 whistled his reply. The crewmen made some final adjustments, then climbed down to the hangar floor. Luke lowered his cockpit canopy and his X-wing lifted off to a low hover. As he followed the other starfighters toward the wide doorway, he felt a twinge of fear about his mission. Do we really have any chance of defeating the Death Star?
Then, from out of nowhere, Ben’s disembodied voice said, “Luke, the Force will be with you.”
Luke took a deep breath and guided the X-wing out of the hangar.
Outside the ancient Massassi temple, a Rebel sentry watched the starfighters rise up over the jungle and race into the morning sky.
Leia and C-3PO proceeded to the war room, where technicians and controllers monitored their illuminated tactical screens. Over the intercom, a robotic voice announced, “Standby alert. Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes.”
Leia knew that Tarkin would order the destruction of Yavin 4 without any hesitation, just as he had done to Alderaan. What if the Rebel pilots aren’t able to carry out General Dodonna’s plan? She tried to push the thought out of her head. We must succeed. We must!
Leaving Yavin 4’s atmosphere, the X-wing and Y-wing starfighters sped away across space. They flew in a tight formation at sub-light speed, staying in sight of one another. After they wrapped around the gas giant Yavin, they saw a strange moonlike sphere in the distance.
The Death Star.
Each pilot in Red Squadron and Gold Squadron had a comm-unit designation. Luke’s designation was Red Five. Even though he knew the names of only a few other pilots, he felt a strong bond with every one of them. They were all brave men, united by their willingness to put their lives on the line against the Empire.
It’s a good thing everyone isn’t like Han Solo, Luke thought bitterly. He tried to shake off his disappointment. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I haven’t seen the last of Han.
Over his helmet’s headset, Luke heard Red Leader—Garven Dreis—say, “All wings report in.”
“Red Ten standing by.”
“Red Seven standing by.”
“Red Three standing by.” Luke thought, That’s Biggs.
“Red Six standing by.” That’s Jek Porkins. Luke had been introduced to the burly, bearded pilot just before the mission briefing.
“Red Nine standing by.”
“Red Two standing by.” Wedge.
“Red Eleven standing by.”
“Red Five standing by,” Luke said. In the astromech socket behind his cockpit, R2-D2 swiveled his head and beeped.
After the other X-wing pilots reported in, Red Leader ordered, “Lock S-foils in attack position.”
Staying in formation, Red Squadron unfolded their starfighters’ wings and locked them into the “X” position. As they neared the Death Star, the fighters began to shudder, and the pilots bounced in their cockpits.
“We’re passing through their magnetic field,” Red Leader announced. “Hold tight!”
Luke concentrated on the incoming Death Star. Red Leader ordered, “Switch your deflectors on. Double front!” Luke and the other pilots adjusted the controls on their fighters’ shields.
The Death Star now loomed large before the approaching starfighters. The gargantuan space station’s surface was half in shadow, and the shadowed area sparkled with thousands of lights, like a planetary city at night when viewed from space. Watching the Death Star fill his X-wing’s cockpit window, Wedge gasped, “Look at the size of that thing!”
“Cut the chatter, Red Two,” Red Leader said. “Accelerate to attack speed.” As the starfighters increased velocity, he announced, “This is it, boys!” The X-wings angled to fly low over the Death Star’s trench.
From his Y-wing, Dutch Vander said, “Red Leader, this is Gold Leader.”
“I copy, Gold Leader,” Red Leader answered via his headset.
Gold Leader said, “We’re starting for the target shaft now.”
“We’re in position,” Red Leader reported. “I’m going to cut across the axis and try and draw their fire.”
Red Leader, his wingman, and two other X-wings peeled off and dived toward the Death Star’s surface. The space station’s large turbopowered laser gun emplacements became visible, and the guns rotated and fired green laserbolts at the Rebel fighters.
On Yavin 4, the Rebel pilots’ comm transmissions were broadcast over the war room’s intercom. Leia and C-3PO listened as Wedge said, “Heavy fire, boss! Twenty-three degrees.”
Red Leader answered, “I see it. Stay low.”
Leia wondered how Luke was doing. She looked to an illuminated tactical screen, found the blip that represented the position of his X-wing over the Death Star, and kept her eyes on the blip.
From his cockpit, Luke saw Wedge maneuver his starfighter toward the Death Star. Luke said into his comm, “This is Red Five! I’m going in!”
Luke raced down toward the space station. Laserbolts streaked from his X-wing’s cannons, creating a huge fireball explosion on the station’s surface. Suddenly, Luke realized he was traveling too fast to avoid the rising flames.
Seeing Luke’s situation, Biggs shouted, “Luke, pull out!”
Luke pulled hard on the controls and his fighter ascended rapidly through the fire. Glancing out his cockpit window, he could see fresh scorch marks on the leading edges of his wings.
Biggs asked, “Are you all right?”
“I got a little cooked, but I’m okay,” Luke told him.
They resumed strafing the Death Star’s surface with laserbolts.
Alarms sounded and red lights flashed within the Death Star’s corridor. As stormtroopers and droids rushed to their stations, only Darth Vader appeared to remain calm amidst the chaotic activity.
A black-uniformed Imperial officer ran up to Vader. “We count thirty Rebel ships, Lord Vader. But they’re so small, they’re evading our turbolasers!”
“We’ll have to destroy them ship to ship,” Vader said. “Get the crews to their fighters.”
Red Leader flew his X-wing through a heavy hail of flak. “Watch yourself!” he cautioned the other pilots. “There’s a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower.”
Luke sighted the deflection tower and said, “I’m on it.”
Biggs said, “I’m going in. Cover me, Porkins!”
Porkins mistook Biggs for Wedge and answered, “I’m right with you, Red Three.”
Biggs and Porkins angled toward the tower and fired. There was an eruption of flames from the tower’s side, but the Imperials responded with a barrage of laserfire. Porkins realized he was heading straight into the barrage and said, “I’ve got a problem here.”
Biggs shouted, “Eject!”
“I can hold it,” Porkins said, angling his ship in an attempt to avoid the crisscrossing laserbolts that streaked from the station. He really thought he could make it.
Biggs saw otherwise and yelled, “Pull out!”
“No, I’m all right,” Porkins said just before his fighter took a direct hit. His cockpit filled with smoke. Then his ship exploded, and Porkins was gone.
Grand Moff Tarkin watched the battle as it was displayed on a monitor in the Death Star control room. On the intercom, a voice announced, “The Rebel base will be in firing range in seven minutes.”
From Tarkin’s perspective, the Rebel starfighters were nothing but a slight annoyance. He couldn’t imagine they would accomplish anything more than marring the surface of his space station. Still, if there were any Rebel pilots left after the destruction of Yavin 4, he would make them pay for the damage.
With their lives.
Luke was still flying low over the Death Star’s surface when he heard Ben’s voice again. The Jedi said, “Luke, trust your feelings.”
Luke tapped his fingers against the side of his helmet. Nothing wrong with my headset. I wish I knew what Ben meant. Right now, my only feelings are for blowing up this space station! He squeezed his triggers and his cannons launched more laserbolts into the Death Star, then he streaked away from the explosions.
Luke was preparing for another attack when he heard a Rebel base control officer’s voice on his headset. The control officer said, “Squad leaders, we’ve picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way.”
“My scope’s negative,” Luke reported. “I don’t see anything.”
“Pick up your visual scanning,” Red Leader advised.
In their respective cockpits, Luke and Biggs turned their heads to look outside their windows, searching for any sight of incoming Imperial fighters. Red Leader spotted the ships first and warned, “Here they come.”
There were six TIE fighters. Flying in an incredibly tight formation, they raced toward the Rebel ships, then fanned out to pursue individual targets.
“Watch it!” Red Leader shouted to a young pilot named John D., whose comm-unit designation was Red Four. “You’ve got one on your tail.”
John D. tried to evade the TIE fighter’s laserfire, but ultimately failed. His X-wing shattered and exploded, scattering debris in all directions.
Red Leader visually scanned the other fighters in his squadron. “Biggs! You’ve picked one up. Watch it!”
“I can’t see it!” Biggs answered. He sent his X-wing into a series of tight swerves but the TIE fighter followed each evasive maneuver. Green laserfire whizzed past Biggs. “They’re on me tight. I can’t shake him.…”
“I’ll be right there,” Luke said, angling his X-wing to pursue the TIE fighter that was right on Biggs’ tail. Glancing at his targeting computer, Luke locked his target into his sights and fired. The TIE fighter exploded in a mass of flames.
Luke thought, I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up. If the Death Star deploys even more TIE fighters, we’ll really be in for it!
Darth Vader strode purposefully down a Death Star corridor and came to a stop before two black-clad Imperial TIE fighter pilots. Like their stormtrooper counterparts, the Imperial pilots were ent
irely without fear.
Vader said, “Several fighters have broken off from the main group. Come with me!” He headed for a door that led to a hangar. The two pilots followed.
On Yavin 4, Leia and C-3PO continued listening to the transmissions from the Rebel pilots. Over the intercom, Biggs said, “Pull in! Luke…pull in!”
Then Wedge said, “Watch your back, Luke!”
Leia tried to visualize what was happening over the Death Star, and trembled.
In his cockpit, Luke heard Wedge say, “Watch your back! Fighters above you, coming in!”
Luke angled away from the Death Star’s surface until he spotted the tailing TIE fighter. The Imperial pilot fired and scored a hit on Luke’s X-wing, striking the port upper thrust engine. The X-wing bounced hard and flames streamed from the damaged engine.
“I’m hit, but not bad,” Luke announced as he took evasive action. “Artoo, see what you can do with it. Hang on back there.”
R2-D2 rotated his dome to extend a repair arm to the port engine. The brave astromech ignored the green laserfire that whizzed past the X-wing.
Red Leader lost sight of Luke. Even though Red Leader knew that Jek Porkins had already been killed, he was under the strain of combat when he called out Porkins’ comm-unit designation: “Red Six…can you see Red Five?”
Red Ten—a young man named Theron Nett—answered, “There’s a heavy fire zone on this side. Red Five, where are you?”
Luke was still trying to evade the same TIE fighter that had struck his X-wing. Soaring away from the Death Star, Luke said, “I can’t shake him!”
“I’m on him, Luke!” Wedge called in. “Hold on!” Wedge dived toward Luke and the TIE fighter.
Luke increased speed, but the TIE fighter clung to his trail. Growing frantic as he waited for Wedge to come to his aid, Luke suddenly realized he’d lost sight of Biggs. Luke said, “Blast it! Biggs, where are you?”
Biggs was rapidly racing to Luke’s position, but Wedge got there first. In a daring maneuver, Wedge guided his X-wing straight for the cockpit window of Luke’s pursuer. Wedge fired his cannons and the TIE fighter’s spherical command pod exploded into space dust. Because of his velocity, Wedge was unable to pull out, but he quickly angled his X-wing to fly through the fiery explosion, narrowly missing the two hexagonal wings that were all that remained of the destroyed TIE fighter.
Star Wars Trilogy Page 12
