The Empire Strikes Back Part 1

Star Wars.

The Empire Strikes Back.

by Donald F. Glut.

= I =.

'NOW this is what I call cold!' Luke Skywalker's voice broke the silence he had observed since leaving the newly established Rebel base hours earlier. He was astride a Tauntaun, the only other living being as far as the eye could see. He felt tired and alone, and the sound of his own voice startled him.

Luke as well as his fellow members of the Rebel Alliance took turns exploring the white wastelands of Hoth, gathering information about their new home. They all returned to base with mixed feelings of comfort and loneliness. There was nothing to contradict their earliest findings that no intelligent lifeforms existed on this cold planet. All that Luke had seen on his solitary expeditions were barren white plains and ranges of blue-tinged mountains that seemed to vanish in the mists of the distant horizons.

Luke smiled behind the masklike gray bandana that protected him against Hoth's frigid winds. Peering out at the icy wastes through his goggles, he pulled his fur-lined cap down more snugly about his head.

One corner of his mouth curled upward as he tried to visualize the official researchers in the service of the Imperial government. 'The galaxy is peppered with settlements of colonizers who care little about the affairs of the Empire or its opposition, the Rebel Alliance,' he thought. 'But a settler would have to be crazy to stake his claims on Hoth. This planet doesn't have a thing to offer anyone - except us.'

The Rebel Alliance had established an outpost on the ice world little more than a month before. Luke was well-known on the base and, although barely twenty-three years old, he was addressed as Commander Skywalker by other Rebel warriors. The t.i.tle made him feel a bit uncomfortable. Nonetheless, he was already in the position of giving orders to a band of seasoned soldiers. So much had happened to Luke and he had changed a great deal. Luke, himself, found it hard to believe that only three years ago he was a wide-eyed farm boy on his home world of Tatooine.

The youthful commander spurred his Tauntaun. 'Come on, girl,' he urged.

The snow-lizard's gray body was insulated from the cold by a covering of thick fur. It galloped on muscular hind legs, its tridactyl feet terminating in large hooked claws that dug up great plumes of snow. The Tauntaun's llamalike head thrust forward and its serpentine tail coiled out behind as the beast ran up the ice slope. The animal's horned head turned from side to side buffeting the winds that a.s.saulted its s.h.a.ggy muzzle.

Luke wished his mission were finished. His body felt nearly frozen in spite of his heavily padded Rebel-issue clothing. But he knew that it was his choice to be there; he had volunteered to ride across the ice fields looking for other lifeforms. He s.h.i.+vered as he looked at the long shadow he and the beast cast on the snow. 'The winds are picking up,' he thought. 'And these chilling winds bring unendurable temperatures to the plains after nightfall.' He was tempted to return to the base a little early, but he knew the importance of establis.h.i.+ng the certainty that the Rebels were alone on Hoth.

The Tauntaun quickly turned to the right, almost throwing Luke off-balance. He was still getting used to riding the unpredictable creatures. 'No offense,' he said to his mount, 'but I'd feel a lot more at ease in the c.o.c.kpit of my old reliable landspeeder.' But for this mission, a Tauntaun - despite its disadvantages - was the most efficient and practical form of transportation available on Hoth.

When the beast reached the top of another ice slope, Luke brought the animal to halt. He pulled off his dark-lensed goggles and squinted for a few moments, just long enough for his eyes to adjust to the blinding glare of the snow.

Suddenly his attention was diverted by the appearance of an object streaking across the sky, leaving behind a lingering trail of smoke as it dipped toward the misty horizon. Luke flashed his gloved hand to his utility belt and clutched his pair of electrobinoculars. Apprehensive, he felt a chill that competed with the coldness of the Hoth atmosphere. What he had seen could have been man-made, perhaps even something launched by the Empire. The young commander, still focused on the object, followed its fiery course and watched intently as it crashed on the white ground and was consumed in its own explosive brilliance.

At the sound of the explosion, Luke's Tauntaun shuddered. A fearful growl escaped its muzzle and it began to claw nervously at the snow. Luke patted the animal's head, trying to rea.s.sure the beast. He found it difficult to hear himself over the bl.u.s.tering wind. 'Easy, girl, it's just another meteorite!' he shouted. The animal calmed and Luke brought the communicator to his mouth. 'Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han ol' buddy, do you read me?'

Static crackled from the receiver. Then a familiar voice cut through the interference. 'Is that you, kid? What's up?'

The voice sounded a little older and somewhat sharper than Luke's. For a moment Luke fondly recalled first meeting the Corellian s.p.a.ce smuggler in that dark, alien-packed cantina at a s.p.a.ceport on Tatooine. And now he was one of Luke's only friends who was not an official member of the Rebel Alliance.

'I've finished my circle and I haven't picked up any life readings,' Luke spoke into his comlink, pressing his mouth close to the transmitter.

'There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a s.p.a.ce cruiser,' Han answered, fighting to make his voice heard above the whistling winds. 'My sentry markers are placed. I'm heading back to base.'

'See you shortly,' Luke replied. He still had his eye on the twisting column of dark smoke rising from a black spot in the distance. 'A meteorite just hit the ground near here and I want to check it out. I won't be long.'

Clicking off his comlink, Luke turned his attention to his Tauntaun. The reptilian creature was pacing, s.h.i.+fting its weight from one foot to the other. It gave out a deep-throated roar that seemed to signal fear.

'Whoa, girl!' he said, patting the Tauntaun's head. 'What's the matter ... you smell something? There's nothing out there.'

But Luke, too, was beginning to feel uneasy, for the first time since he had set out from the hidden Rebel base. If he knew anything about these snowlizards, it was that their senses were keen. Without question the animal was trying to tell Luke that something, some danger, was near.

Not wasting a moment, Luke removed a small object from his utility belt and adjusted its miniature controls. The device was sensitive enough to zero in on even the most minute life readings by detecting body temperature and internal life systems. But as Luke began to scan the readings, he realized there was no need -or time - to continue.

A shadow crossed over him, towering above by a good meter and a half. Luke spun around and suddenly it seemed as if the terrain itself had come to life. A great white-furred bulk, perfectly camouflaged against the sprawling mounds of snow, rushed savagely at him.

'Son of a jumpin'..."

Luke's hand blaster never cleared its holster. The huge claw of the Wampa Ice Creature struck him hard and flat against his face, knocking him off the Tauntaun and into the freezing snow.

Unconsciousness came swiftly to Luke, so swiftly that he never even heard the pitiful screams of the Tauntaun nor the abrupt silence following the sound of a snapping neck. And he never felt his own ankle savagely gripped by his giant, hairy attacker, or felt his body dragged like a lifeless doll across the snow-covered plain.

Black smoke was still rising from the depression in the hillside where the air-borne thing had fallen. The smoky clouds had thinned considerably since the object had crashed to the ground and formed a smoldering crater, the dark fumes being dispersed over the plains by the icy Hoth winds.

Something stirred within the crater.

First there was only a sound, a droning mechanical sound swelling in intensity as if to compete with the howling wind. Then the thing moved - something that glinted in the bright afternoon light as it slowly began to rise from the crater.

The object appeared to be some form of alien organic life, its head a multiorbed, skull-like horror, its dark-lensed blister eyes training their cold gaze across the even colder reaches of wilderness. But as the thing rose higher from the crater, its form showed it clearly to be a machine of some sort, possessing a large cylindrical 'body' connected to a circular head, and equipped with cameras, sensors, and metal appendages, some of which terminated in crablike grasping pincers.

The machine hovered over the smoking crater and extended its appendages in various directions. Then a signal was set off within its internal mechanical systems, and the machine began to float across the icy plain.

The dark probe droid soon vanished over the distant horizon.

Another rider, bundled in winter clothing and mounted on a spotted gray Tauntaun, raced across the slopes of Hoth toward the Rebel base of operations.

The man's eyes, like points of cold metal, glanced without interest at the domes of dull gray, the myriad gun turrets and the colossal power generators that were the only indications of civilized life on this world. Han Solo gradually slowed his snow-lizard, guiding the reins so the creature trotted through the entrance of the enormous ice cave.

Han welcomed the relative warmth of the vast complex of caverns, warmed by Rebel heating units that obtained their power from the huge generators outside. This subterranean base was both a natural ice cave and a maze of angular tunnels blasted from a solid mountain of ice by Rebel lasers. The Corellian had been in more desolate h.e.l.l-holes in the galaxy, but for the moment he couldn't remember the exact location of any one of them.

He dismounted his Tauntaun, then glanced around to watch the activity taking place inside the mammoth cave. Wherever he looked he saw things being carried, a.s.sembled, or repaired. Rebels in gray uniforms rushed to unload supplies and adjust equipment. And there were robots, mostly R2 units and power droids, that seemed to be everywhere, rolling or walking through the ice corridors, efficiently performing their innumerable tasks.

Han was beginning to wonder if he were mellowing with age. At first he had had no personal interest in or loyalty to this whole Rebel affair. His ultimate involvement in the conflict between Empire and Rebel Alliance began as a mere business transaction, selling his services and the use of his s.h.i.+p, the Millennium Falcon. The job had seemed simple enough: Just pilot Ben Ken.o.bi, plus young Luke and two droids, to the Alderaan system. How could Han have known at the time that he would also be called on to rescue a princess from the Empire's most feared battle station, the Death Star?

Princess Leia Organa ...

The more Solo thought about her, the more he realized how much trouble he eventually bought himself by accepting Ben Ken.o.bi's money. All Han had wanted originally was to collect his fee and rocket off to pay back some bad debts that hung over his head like a meteor ready to fall. Never had he intended to become a hero.

And yet, something had kept him around to join Luke and his crazy Rebel friends as they launched the now-legendary s.p.a.ce attack on the Death Star. Something. For the present, Han couldn't decide just what that something was.

Now, long after the Death Star's destruction, Han was still with the Rebel Alliance, lending his a.s.sistance to establish this base on Hoth, probably the bleakest of all planets in the galaxy. But all that was about to change, he told himself. As far as he was concerned, Han Solo and the Rebels were about to blast off on divergent courses.

He walked rapidly through the underground hangar deck where several Rebel fighter s.h.i.+ps were docked and being serviced by men in gray a.s.sisted by droids of various designs. Of greatest concern to Han was the saucer-shaped freighter s.h.i.+p resting on its newly installed landing pods. This, the largest s.h.i.+p in the hangar, had garnered a few new dents in its metal hull since Han first hooked up with Skywalker and Ken.o.bi. Yet the Millennium Falcon was famous not for its outward appearance but for its speed: This freighter was still the fastest s.h.i.+p ever to make the Kessel Run or to outrun an Imperial TIE fighter.

Much of the Falcon's success could be attributed to its maintenance, now entrusted to the s.h.a.ggy hands of a two-meter-tall mountain of brown hair, whose face was at the moment hidden behind a welder's mask.

Chewbacca, Han Solo's giant Wookiee copilot, was repairing the Millennium Falcon's central lifter when he noticed Solo approaching. The Wookiee stopped his work and raised his face s.h.i.+eld, exposing his furry countenance. A growl that few non-Wookiees in the universe could translate roared from his toothy mouth.

Han Solo was one of those few. 'Cold isn't the word for it, Chewie,' the Corellian replied. 'I'll take a good fight any day over all this hiding and freezing!' He noticed the smoky wisps rising from the newly welded section of metal. 'How are you coming with those lifters?'

Chewbacca replied with a typical Wookiee grumble.

'All right,' Han said, fully agreeing with his friend's desire to return to s.p.a.ce, to some other planet - anywhere but Hoth. 'I'll go report. Then I'll give you a hand. Soon as those lifters are fixed, we're out of here.'

The Wookiee barked, a joyful chuckle, and returned to his work as Han continued through the artificial ice cavern.

The command center was alive with electronic equipment and monitoring devices reaching toward the icy ceiling. As in the hangar, Rebel personnel filled the command center. The room was full of controllers, troopers, maintenance men - along with droids of varying models and sizes, all of whom were diligently involved in converting the chamber into a workable base to replace the one on Yavin.

The man Han Solo had come to see was busily engaged behind a great console, his attention riveted to a computer screen flas.h.i.+ng brilliantly colored readouts. Rieekan, wearing the uniform of a Rebel general, straightened his tall frame to face Solo as he approached.

'General, there isn't a hint of life in the area,' Han reported. 'But all the perimeter markings are set, so you'll know if anyone comes calling.'

As usual, General Rieekan did not smile at Solo's flippancy. But he admired the young man's taking a kind of unofficial members.h.i.+p in the Rebellion. So impressed was Rieekan by Solo's qualities that he often considered giving him an honorary officer's commission.

'Has Commander Skywalker reported in yet?' the general inquired.

'He's checking out a meteorite that hit near him,' Han answered. 'He'll be in soon.'

Rieekan quickly glanced at a newly installed radar screen and studied the flas.h.i.+ng images. 'With all the meteor activity in this system, it's going to be difficult to spot approaching s.h.i.+ps.'

'General, I ...' Han hesitated. 'I think it's time for me to move on.'

Han's attention was drawn from General Rieekan to a steadily approaching figure. Her walk was both graceful and determined, and somehow the young woman's feminine features seemed incongruous with her white combat uniform. Even at this distance, Han could tell Princess Leia was upset.

'You're good in a fight,' the general remarked to Han, adding, 'I hate to lose you.'

'Thank you, General. But there's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt, I'm a walking dead man.'

'A death mark is not an easy thing to live with ... ' the officer began as Han turned to Princess Leia. Solo was not a sentimental sort, but he was aware that he was very emotional now. 'I guess this is it, Your Highness.' He paused, not knowing what response to expect from the princess.

'That's right,' Leia replied coldly. Her sudden aloofness was quickly evolving into genuine anger.

Han shook his head. Long ago he had told himself that females - mammalian, reptilian, or some biological cla.s.s yet to be discovered - were beyond his meager powers of comprehension. Better leave them to mystery, he'd often advised himself.

But for a while, at least, Han had begun to believe that there was at least one female in all the cosmos that he was beginning to understand. And yet, he had been wrong before.

'Well,' Han said, 'don't go all mushy on me. So long, Princess.'

Abruptly turning his back to her, Han strode into the quiet corridor that connected with the command center. His destination was the hangar deck, where a giant Wookiee and a smuggler's freighter - two realities he did understand - were waiting for him. He was not about to stop walking.

'Han!' Leia was rus.h.i.+ng after him, slightly out of breath.

Coolly, he stopped and turned toward her. 'Yes, Your Highness?'

'I thought you had decided to stay.'

There seemed to be real concern in Leia's voice, but Han could not be certain.

'That bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind.'

'Does Luke know?' she asked.

'He'll know when he gets back,' Han replied gruffly.

Princess Leia's eyes narrowed, her gaze judging him with a look he knew well. For a moment Han felt like one of the icicles on the surface of the planet.

'Don't give me that look,' he said sternly. 'Every day more bounty hunters are searching for me. I'm going to pay off Jabba before he sends any more of his remotes, Gank killers, and who knows what else. I've got to get this price off my head while I still have a head.'

Leia was obviously affected by his words, and Han could see that she was concerned for him as well as, perhaps, feeling something more.

'But we still need you,' she said.

'We?' he asked.

'Yes.'

'What about you?' Han was careful to emphasize the last word, but really wasn't certain why. Maybe it was something he had for some time wanted to say but had lacked the courage - no, he amended, the stupidity - to expose his feelings. At the moment there seemed to be little to lose, and he was ready for whatever she might say.

'Me?' she said bluntly. 'I don't know what you mean.'

Incredulous, Han Solo shook his head. 'No, you probably don't.'

'And what precisely am I supposed to know?' Anger was growing in her voice again, probably because, Han thought, she was finally beginning to understand.

He smiled. 'You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me.'

Again the princess mellowed. 'Well, yes, you've been a great help,' she said, pausing before going on,'... to us. You're a natural leader-'

But Han refused to let her finish, cutting her off in midsentence. 'No, Your Wors.h.i.+p. That's not it.'

Suddenly Leia was staring directly into Han's face, with eyes that were, at last, fully understanding. She started to laugh. 'You're imagining things.'

'Am I? I think you were afraid I was going to leave you without even a...' Han's eyes focused on her lips,'... kiss.'

She began to laugh harder now. 'I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee.'

'I can arrange that.' He moved closer to her, and she looked radiant even in the cold light of the ice chamber. 'Believe me, you could use a good kiss. You've been so busy giving orders, you've forgotten how to be a woman. If you'd have let go for a moment, I could have helped you. But it's too late now, sweetheart. Your big opportunity is flying out of here.'

'I think I can survive,' she said, obviously irked.

'Good luck!'

'You don't even care if the-'

He knew what she was going to say and didn't let her finish. 'Spare me, please!' he interrupted. 'Don't tell me about the Rebellion again. It's all you think about. You're as cold as this planet.'

'And you think you're the one to apply some heat?'