Darth Vader, a raven specter, quickly strode through the ruins of the Rebel ice

fortress, forcing his accompanying men into a brisk jog to keep up. As they moved

through the corridors, Admiral Piett rushed up to overtake his master.

"Seventeen ships destroyed," he reported to the Dark Lord. "We don't know

how many got away."

Without turning his head, Vader snarled through his mask, "The Millennium

Falcon?"

Piett paused a moment before replying. He would have preferred to avoid that

issue. "Our tracking scanners are on it now," he responded a bit fearfully.

Vader turned to face the admiral, his towering figure looming over the frightened

officer. Piett felt a chill course through his veins, and when the Dark Lord spoke

again his voice conveyed an image of the dreadful fate that would be inflicted if his

commands were not executed.

"I want that ship," he hissed.

The ice planet was rapidly shrinking to a point of dim light as the Millennium

Falcon sped into space. Soon that planet seemed nothing more than one of the

billions of light specks scattered throughout the black void.

But the Falcon was not alone in its escape into deep space. Rather, it was

followed by an Imperial fleet that included the Avenger Star Destroyer and a

half-dozen TIE fighter. The fighters moved ahead of the huge, slower-moving

Destroyer, and closed in on the fleeing Millennium Falcon.

Chewbacca howled over the roar of the Falcon's engines. The ship was

beginning to lurch with the buffeting flak blasted at it by the fighters.

"I know, I know, I see them," Han shouted. It was taking everything he had to

maintain control of the ship.

"See what?" Leia asked.

Han pointed out the window at two very bright objects.

"Two more Star Destroyers, and they're heading right at us."

"I'm glad you said there was going to be no problem," she commented with

more than a touch of sarcasm, "or I'd be worried."

The ship rocked under the steady fire from the TIE fighters making it difficult for

Threepio to maintain his balance as he returned to the cockpit. His metal skin

bumped and banged against the walls as he approached Han. "Sir," he began

tentatively, "I was wondering…"

Han Solo shot him a threatening glance. "Either shut up or shut down." Han

warned the robot, who immediately did the former.

Still struggling with the controls to keep the Millennium Falcon on course, the

pilot turned to Wookiee. "Chewie, how's the deflector shield holding up?"

The cockpit adjusted an overhead switch and barked a reply that Solo interpreted

as positive.

"Good," said Han. "At sublight, they may be faster, but we can still

out-maneuver them. Hold on!" Suddenly the Corellian shifted his ship's course.

The two Imperial Star Destroyers had com almost within firing range of the

Falcon as they loomed ahead; the pursuing TIE fighters and the Avenger were also

dangerously close. Han felt he had no choice but to take the Falcon into a

ninety-degree dive.

Leia and Chewbacca felt their stomachs leap into their throats as the Falcon

executed its steep dive. Poor Threepio quickly had to alter his inner mechanism if he

wanted to remain on his metallic fee.

Han realized that his crew might think he was some kind of lunatic star jockey,

pushing his ship on this madman's course. But he had a strategy in mind. With the

Falcon no longer between them, the two Star Destroyers were now on a direct

collision course with the Avenger. All he had to do was sit back and watch.

Alarms blared through the interiors of all three Star Destroyers. These

ponderously massive ships could not respond quickly enough to such emergencies.

Sluggishly one of the Destroyers began to move to the left in its effort to avoid

collision with the Avenger. Unfortunately, as it veered, it brushed its companion ship,

violently shaking up both spaceborne fortresses. The damaged Destroyers began to

drift through space, while the Avenger continued in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon

and its obviously insane pilot.

Two down, Han thought. But there was still a quartet of TIE fighters tailing the

Falcon, blasting at its stern with full laser fire, but Han thought he could outstrip them.

The ship was buffeted violently by the fighters' laser blasts, forcing Leia to hold on in

a desperate attempt to keep her seat.

"That slowed them down a bit!" Han exulted. "Chewie, stand by to make the

jump to light-speed." There was not a moment to waste—the laser attack was

intense now, and the TIE fighters were almost on top of them.

"They're very close," Leia warned, finally able to speak.

Han looked at her with a wicked glint in his eyes. "Oh, yeah? Watch this."

He threw the hyperspace throttle forward, desperate to escape, but also eager to

impress the princess with both his own cleverness and his ship's fantastic power.

Nothing happened! The stars that should by then have been mere blurs of light were

still. Something was definitely wrong.

"Watch what?" Leia asked impatiently.

Instead of responding, Han worked the light-speed controls a second time.

Again, nothing. "I think we're in trouble," he muttered. His throat tightened. He

knew "trouble" was a gross understatement.

"If I may say so, sir," Threepio volunteered, "I noticed earlier that the entire

main para-light system seemed to have been damaged."

Chewbacca threw back his head and let out a loud and miserable wail.

"We're in trouble!" Han repeated.

All around them, the laser attack had increased violently. The Millennium

Falcon could only continue at its maximum sublight velocity as it moved deeper into

space, closely followed by a swarm of TIE fighters and one gigantic Imperial Star

Destroyer.

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