"That's right, kid. I've got some old debts to pay off, and even if I didn't, I

don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here." He eyed Luke appraisingly.

"You're pretty good in a scrap, kid. Why don't you come with us? I could use

you."

The mercenary gleam in Solo's eyes only made Luke mad. "Why don't you

look around you and see something besides yourself for a change? You know what's

going to happen here, what they're up against. They could use a good pilot. But

you're turning your back on them."

Solo didn't appear upset at Luke's tirade. "What good's a reward if you're not

around to spend it? Attacking that battle station isn't my idea of courage—more like

suicide."

"Yeah…Take care of yourself, Han," Luke said quietly, turning to leave. "But I

guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?" He started back into the hangar depths,

flanked by the two 'droids.

Solo stared after him, hesitated, then called, "Hey, Luke…may the force be with

you." Luke looked back to see Solo wink at him. He waved—sort of. Then he

was swallowed up by moving mechanics and machinery.

Solo returned to his work, lifting a box—and stopped, to see Chewbacca gazing

fixedly at him.

"What are you staring at, gruesome? I know what I'm doing. Get back to

work!"

Slowly, still eyeing his partner, the Wookie returned to the task of loading the

heavy crates.

Sorrowful thoughts of Solo vanished when Luke saw the petite, slim figure

standing by his ship—the ship he had been granted.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Princess Leia asked him. "It could be a

deadly reward."

Luke's eyes were filled with the sleek, venomous metal shape. "More than

anything."

"Then what's wrong?"

Luke looked back at her and shrugged. "It's Han. I thought he'd change his

mind. I thought he'd join us."

"A man must follow his own path," she told him, sounding now like a Senator.

"No one can choose it for him. Han Solo's priorities differ from ours. I wish it

were otherwise, but I can't find it in my heart to condemn him." She stood on

tiptoes, gave him a quick, almost embarrassed kiss, and turned to go. "May the force

be with you."

"I only wish," Luke murmured to himself as he started back to his ship, "Ben

were here."

So intent was he on thoughts of Kenobi, the Princess, and Han that he didn't

notice the larger figure which tightly locked on to his arm. He turned, his initial

anger gone instantly in astonishment as he recognized the figure.

"Luke!" the slightly older man exclaimed. "I don't believe it! How'd you get

here? Are you going out with us?"

"Biggs!" Luke embraced his friend warmly. "Of course I'll be up there with

you." His smile faded slightly. "I haven't got a choice, anymore." Then he

brightened again. "Listen, have I got some stories to tell you…"

The steady whooping and laughing the two made was in marked contrast to the

solemnity with which the other men and women in the hangar went about their

business. The commotion attracted the attention of an older, war-worn man known

to the younger pilot only as Blue Leader.

His face wrinkled with curiosity as he approached the two younger men. It was

a face scorched by the same fire that flickered in his eyes, a blaze kindled not by

revolutionary fervor but by years of living through and witnessing far too much

injustice. Behind that fatherly visage a raging demon fought to escape. Soon, very

soon, he would be free to let it loose.

Now he was interested in these two young men, who in a few hours were likely

to be particles of frozen meat floating about Yavin. One of them he recognized.

"Aren't you Luke Skywalker? Have you been checked out on the Incom T-

65?"

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