Star Wars Missions 001 - Asault on Yavin Four (2 page)

“Han is joking with you, Threepio,” said Luke. “Are you looking for Artoo?”

“Artoo? No, I know where
he
is. Oh, you’ve got my circuits all confused! I was looking for all of you. Artoo is in the briefing room, and he’s discovered something that may be of great importance!”

“Then we better get to the briefing room,” said Leia, already on her way with Luke beside her. Solo began to move with them, but Threepio stepped before him.

“Excuse me, Master Solo,” he said, “but I wonder whether you could explain to me why you…
joke
with me?”

“Sure, I’ll explain it,” said Solo, aiming an index finger at Threepio’s sternum. As Threepio lowered his chin to see Solo’s finger on his chestplate, Solo brought his finger up fast so that it rapped against Threepio’s olfactory sensor. Threepio jerked his head back in surprise.

Solo grinned. “It’s because I like you.”

“You like me?” said Threepio. “Really? How very generous of you, Captain Solo!”

Chewbacca growled at Solo. The Wookiee thought Solo was being mean, teasing Threepio like that. Chewbacca stepped forward and wiped away the smudge that Solo’s finger had caused. Then he and Solo left the hangar.

“Oh!” said Threepio. “I guess that means you like me too, Chewbacca. How wonderful!… Oh, dear! Wait for me!”

Captain Skeezer stood at attention in the forward launch bay of the Imperial Star Destroyer. Behind him, four crewmen, three stormtrooper squads, and three Imperial pilots prepared to board the downsized Carrack light cruiser. At nearly half the length of the typical Carrack, Skeezer’s modified vessel carried only three external TIE fighters. Still, it boasted a powerful hyperdrive engine.

Admiral Termo strode into the launch bay and crossed directly to Skeezer. As always, Termo’s voice remained low and calm.

“We have lost contact with Grand Moff Tarkin,” said Termo. “Go to the Yavin system and investigate, but do not attempt to contact the Death Star. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” said Skeezer. His face was completely blank. Skeezer never showed emotion.

“Do not attempt to transmit any hyperspace comm from Yavin,” added Termo. “It is possible that the transmissions are being intercepted by the Rebellion. You will return here when you have determined the status of the Death Star… and have dealt with it”

“Yes, sir,” said Skeezer.

Admiral Termo turned on his heel and walked out of the launch bay. It wasn’t until the sliding doors had sealed behind the departed admiral that the chief gunnery officer approached Captain Skeezer.

“May I ask the nature of our mission, Captain Skeezer?” the gunnery officer asked. He noticed that Captain Skeezer looked concerned. Captain Skeezer
never
looked concerned.

“Lieutenant,” said Skeezer, “our mission is to find out whether we are in a whole world of trouble.”

The hologram of the Death Star was suspended in the front of the briefing room. Artoo was jacked into the holo-projector’s computer, and he adjusted the rotation of the three-dimensional image. Artoo removed the exterior hull, revealing the Death Star’s interior design.

“I know the Death Star is gone,” said Leia, “but the sight of its hologram makes my blood run cold.”

“Relax, Princess,” said Solo. “That thing ain’t ever coming back.”

Luke kept his eyes on the hologram. “Why did Artoo dredge up the Death Star plans?” he asked Threepio.

“Oh, you know Artoo,” Threepio replied. “He can’t leave anything alone until he’s looked at it from every angle. I thought his experience in the Death Star battle would have cured him of his curiosity. But it didn’t. After his repairs were made, he couldn’t wait to have another look at the plans.”

Solo rolled his eyes. “Why’re we wasting our time, looking at the floor plans of a place that doesn’t even exist anymore?”

“Well,” said Threepio, “when we were onboard the Death Star, Artoo plugged into its computer network to locate Princess Leia. While searching the network, Artoo noted the Death Star was carrying an
extremely
large amount of
bacta
.”

Everyone knew about the chemical compound called bacta. Bacta was regarded as a miracle of modem science. Bacta could heal almost any wound. Injured people could be put into bacta tanks and the bacta would make them better almost immediately.

“What a waste,” said Solo. “You wouldn’t believe how much people along the Outer Rim will pay for bacta!”

Leia shot Solo an icy glance. “Don’t you ever stop thinking about money? That bacta could have saved a lot of lives!”

“Yeah, well there’s no use arguing about it, your worshipfulness,” said Solo, “because it’s gone!”

“Wait a minute,” said Luke. “Bacta is used to heal people. Why would the Death Star be carrying so much?”

Artoo-Detoo let out a flurry of beeps and whistles.

“That’s precisely what Artoo-Detoo was wondering!” exclaimed Threepio. “According to the plans, the Death Star’s medical stations were equipped with their own sufficient supply of bacta. It would seem that this extra bacta was
cargo
.”

“Maybe they were expecting heavy casualties somewhere,” said Solo. “And if there’s one thing I
don’t
care about, it’s dead Imperials.”

Leia ignored Solo’s bravado. “It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “The Imperial Navy isn’t even sympathetic to
their own
wounded.”

“And once the Empire built the Death Star,” added Luke, “they probably didn’t expect to lose
any
battles…”

“Oh, dear!” said Threepio suddenly, raising a hand to his head. “My broadband antenna has received a relay signal from our beacon satellite! A ship of unknown origin has entered the Yavin system!”

Although he did not know what awaited him in the Yavin system, Captain Skeezer thought he would be glad to be out of hyperspace. The mere thought of the faster-than-light travel gave Skeezer a headache. But he felt even more uncomfortable as the Carrack’s sensors searched for the Death Star.

“Where is it?” asked the gunnery officer. “It’s got to be…
somewhere
.”

Skeezer squinted at Yavin, the giant gas planet. His headache was not getting any better. “Which of Yavin’s moons can support human life?” he barked to the gunnery officer.

“Yavin Four, Eight, and Thirteen,” responded the gunnery officer.

“Four’s closest,” said Skeezer. “We’d better take a look.”

“I’m sorry to have to say this,” said General Dodonna, “but our victory celebration has come to an end.” General Dodonna was the Alliance officer who planned the attack on the Death Star.

Luke, Leia, Solo, Chewbacca, and the droids were assembled in the war room. Wedge Antilles and the other surviving starfighter pilots were also present

“Thirty-five minutes ago,” said Dodonna, “our satellite beacon picked up an unidentified vessel.” On a large monitor behind Dodonna, a small white rectangle slowly appeared against a star field.

Dodonna pointed to the slowly moving rectangle. “Sensors indicated the vessel’s length at one hundred fifty meters. Its entrance into our system indicates that it emerged from hyperspace. We hoped it might be an Alliance ship, but if you look at our computer’s enhancement of the vessel, you’ll see something very interesting.”

The screen flickered, and the white rectangle became larger. It was still difficult to see. But several seconds later, the white rectangle passed in front of the brightly illuminated Yavin, becoming a more distinct silhouette.

“That vessel’s carrying TIE fighters!” exclaimed Luke.

“Three, to be exact,” Dodonna confirmed. “Because they’re mounted on the exterior of the ship, we think the vessel is a modified Carrack assault cruiser. Besides the TIE fighters, it probably carries landspeeders and laser cannons. It might have been expecting to meet the Death Star.”

“Or,” offered Leia, “the Empire sent it here to find out why they haven’t heard from Grand Moff Tarkin.”

“Either way,” said General Dodonna, “it confirms that our battle with the Empire is far from over. But rather than fight this one out, our best strategy is to wait and hope for the cruiser to pass by. Then we can continue our —”

“Hope for it to pass?” Luke yelled. He startled everyone, including himself, with his outburst “But General… There are enough of us! We can take out that cruiser right now!”

Leia put her hand on Luke’s arm. “Please, Luke,” she said. “You’re our best pilot, and one of the few we have left. We can’t afford to lose you!”

“I… I guess you’re right,” Luke agreed.

“Well, folks, this is great fun,” said an annoyed Solo, “but instead of waiting around here, I should do some spring cleaning on the
Falcon
. Come on, Chewie.” The Wookiee and Solo left the briefing room.

General Dodonna addressed the remaining audience. “We will continue to monitor the vessel with our sensors, and will keep you posted of any developments. This concludes our meeting.” Dodonna stepped away from his podium, and the large monitor screen went blank.

Luke turned to Wedge Antilles. “I can’t believe they’re making us sit this one out, Wedge!”

“Believe it, Luke,” Wedge replied. “It’s lousy, but the general’s right. We can’t risk losing any pilots right now, especially in a minor skirmish.”

Suddenly, from the direction of the hangar, the sound of a distant, familiar roar reached the meeting room.

“Hey!” said Luke. “Those are the
Falcon’s
engines!”

Leia thought of the reckless Han Solo. “Oh, no!” she cried, her eyes wide with fear. “He wouldn’t disobey orders … would he?”

The
Millennium Falcon
rocketed out of the makeshift hangar and rose swiftly above the green trees that surrounded the Rebel base. From his copilot seat, Chewbacca uttered a whimpering howl.

“Oh, stop your whining,” said Solo. “You could’ve stayed.”

Chewbacca howled again.

“No, I’m not trying to impress the princess!” snapped Solo. “I just don’t like waiting around for a fight!”

The
Falcon
blew through the atmosphere and stars filled the view from the cockpit Han adjusted the navicomputer, then climbed out of his seat “Okay, Chewie, stay on target! We’ve got to hit ’em fast and hard!” Solo ran to the aft laser cannon.

Within seconds, the Carrack cruiser came into view. The
Falcon
descended upon it from a dangerously close angle. The Carrack tilted slightly, indicating the Imperial pilot’s delayed response. Glowing bolts sprayed from the ship’s laser cannons toward the Falcon. Only it was too late.

As the
Falcon
soared past the vessel, Solo squeezed off a shot and took out the Carrack’s sensor array. Then he fired four more blasts at the externally mounted TIE fighters. Explosions tore at the hull of the Carrack.

“Waaaah-hoo!” yelled Solo over the comm to Chewbacca “Chain reaction!”

The
Falcon
circled back for another attack, but the damaged Carrack fired its thrusters and hurtled through space in the direction of Yavin Four. Chewbacca stayed on the Carrack’s tail as both ships entered Yavin Four’s atmosphere. Solo continued to fire upon the Imperial ship.

“Stang!” Solo exclaimed. “They’ve put most of their power into their rear deflector shields! Don’t let ’em out of your sight, Chewie!”

Three blasts fired from the fleeing Carrack’s cannons. A second later, they struck the cockpit of the
Millennium Falcon
. The
Falcon’s
shields absorbed most of the impact, but Chewbacca howled to Solo as smoke filled the cockpit interior.

“Chewie!” Solo yelled into his comm, “You okay?!”

Chewbacca growled in the affirmative.

“We’ve got no choice, Chewie!” said Solo. “Set us down near the Rebel base!” Solo took a last look at the Carrack, just in time to see it land near a towering ruin. Solo left his position and ran for the cockpit.

Solo and Chewbacca landed the
Falcon
outside the Rebel base. The exterior of the
Falcon’s
cockpit was badly scorched. As Solo and Chewbacca exited their ship, Luke and Leia ran to them from the hangar. General Dodonna followed.

“What were you trying to do up there?!” yelled Leia “Get yourself killed?!”

“Who, me?” said Solo, trying to look innocent. “I was only trying to help —”