Rebel Force_ Uprising Part 2

CHAPTER FOUR.

Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca gaped at the dead Glymphid.

Luke cleared his throat nervously. "You don't think...I mean, there's no way a holorecording could..."

"Coincidence," Han said, watching the holoplayer like it was going to bite him. "Had to be."

Chewbacca growled in agreement.

"I've heard of delayed-release poisons," Leia said. "Maybe activating the holoplayer triggered something?"

"Maybe we should leave before it triggers something else else," Han suggested.

Luke stared at the coordinates that the hooded man had given them. "This is halfway across the galaxy," he said. "Even if we leave right now, we might not make it there in time."

"That's a.s.suming we go at all," Han said. "You want to walk straight into a trap?"

"I'm not going to just leave those people to die!" Luke said indignantly.

"And I'm not looking to die with them," Han shot back. "Self-sacrifice isn't in my vocabulary, kid."

"Then I'll go without you," Luke said.

"Oh, yeah?" Han grinned. "In what s.h.i.+p?"

Luke glared at him, furious. Whenever he let himself believe that Han cared about anyone but himself, something like this would happen.

"Let's slow down," Leia said. "We should contact the Rebel base, let them know what happened, see what they-"

"No!" Luke exclaimed. "Didn't you hear Soresh? If we disobey him and tell anyone what's happening-"

"It's a bluff, kid," Han said. "No one's watching."

"How do you you know?" Luke asked. He glanced at the dead alien. "I bet know?" Luke asked. He glanced at the dead alien. "I bet he he didn't think anyone was watching, either, And now look at him. I'm not going to let anyone else die because of me." didn't think anyone was watching, either, And now look at him. I'm not going to let anyone else die because of me."

"This is not not your fault," Leia insisted. "And if anything happens to those hostages, that's not your fault, either. You can't control what some maniac decided to do." your fault," Leia insisted. "And if anything happens to those hostages, that's not your fault, either. You can't control what some maniac decided to do."

"Maybe I can't control it," Luke agreed. "But I can stop it. And I'm going to." None of them understood, maybe because it hadn't been their their name on the holovid. This was all happening because of him. Because for whatever reason, this insane Imperial wanted Luke Skywalker, and was willing to kill. name on the holovid. This was all happening because of him. Because for whatever reason, this insane Imperial wanted Luke Skywalker, and was willing to kill. Enough people have died to protect me Enough people have died to protect me, Luke thought.

Images of his aunt's and uncle's smoldering bodies, of Darth Vader's lightsaber slicing through Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi, flashed through his mind.

Enough.

"Fine," Leia said. "But you're not doing it alone."

Chewbacca hooted with enthusiasm. He was always eager for battle. Which left only one.

Leia fixed Han with a steely glare. Stubbornly, he met her gaze. Then he sighed.

"Your wish is my command, Princess," Han said wearily. "But if we do this, we do it my way. We're not just delivering the kid up to the slaughter. We've got to be smart."

"Smart?" Leia raised her eyebrows. "I thought you said you wanted to do this your way."

Han lowered the Millennium Falcon Millennium Falcon into the atmosphere, surveying the moon's features. into the atmosphere, surveying the moon's features.

There weren't any.

People talked about "the middle of nowhere," but Han realized that he'd never actually been there-until now. Soresh's coordinates had led them to the Sixela system, a forgotten wasteland deep in the Outer Rim. The moon of the third planet around the blue giant star was habitable but uninhabited, and Han could see why. There was nothing on the ground but rocks and dust. The instruments indicated only one concentration of life, a small outpost at the moon's equator. Han projected the image on the viewscreen. It was a cl.u.s.ter of small, fortress-like buildings surrounded by the electrified pens they'd seen on the holovid. Large laser cannon installations surrounded the pens, aimed at the prisoners.

But there was no indication of any other weapons systems or planetary defense.

Han grinned. Whoever this Soresh was, he clearly didn't know how to lay an ambush.

This was going to be a piece of puff cake.

"Pardon me, Captain Solo?" Luke's golden protocol droid walked stiffly into the c.o.c.kpit. His astromech counterpart wheeled in beside him. "Are you absolutely sure you wish to take such a rash course of action?" C-3PO asked, for the hundredth time. "Perhaps if you would let me negotiate with the Imperial Commander? After all, I am a protocol droid, well versed in forty-seven forms of hostage negotiation-"

"You don't negotiate when someone's got a blaster to your head," Han said impatiently. "You use a bigger blaster."

The astromech droid, R2-D2, beeped and whirred.

"Yes, Artoo, I'm sure Captain Solo does does know what he's doing. I simply wanted-" know what he's doing. I simply wanted-"

R2-D2 issued a high whistle.

"Oh, really?" C-3PO said. "And when exactly is the last time you you used a blaster?" used a blaster?"

The astromech droid beeped a response.

"I most certainly will not not," C-3PO said huffily. "Why don't you you jam a restraining bolt in your-" jam a restraining bolt in your-"

"Enough!" Han shouted. "I can't think with you two yammering in my ear."

"Certainly, Captain Solo," C-3PO said, offended but obsequious. "We'll leave it to you."

"Good," Han growled. He prepared the s.h.i.+p for landing. The laser cannons were armed and ready, and his blaster, as always, was by his side. "I've got some negotiating to do."

Han set the Falcon Falcon down on the moon, about half a klick from the hostages. A solitary figure stood in the red sand, waiting. down on the moon, about half a klick from the hostages. A solitary figure stood in the red sand, waiting.

"Stay here and stay out of trouble," Han instructed the droids. Then he and Chewbacca disembarked. The air was thin and choked with dust, but breathable. The man standing before him wore a hood over his face and carried an ancient triple blaster. It hung loosely at his side.

"Greetings, Captain Solo," he said. "Welcome to my kingdom."

"So you're Soresh?" Han said.

The man nodded. He took a few steps toward the Falcon Falcon.

Han raised his own blaster and aimed it toward the Imperial. "How about you stay where you are and I stay where I am until this is settled," he suggested.

"I have no argument with you," Soresh said. "I trust you've brought Luke."

"I have," Han said. His finger tensed on the blaster trigger. He was the one who had come up with this plan-but that didn't mean he was sure it would work. Not that he would ever admit as much out loud.

"And where might he be?" Soresh asked, in a pinched voice.

"He might be inside the s.h.i.+p," Han allowed. As he spoke, an X-wing fighter roared into the atmosphere, laser cannons blazing. Right on time. Han grinned. "Then again, he might not."

A second X-wing followed on the tail of the first. They spiraled through the air, strafing the weapons embankments with carefully aimed bursts of laserfire. One after the other, the cannons exploded. The hostages cheered.

"You don't realize what you've done," Soresh said, raising his blaster.

But, distracted by the surprise attack, he moved too slowly. Han fired first, and his aim was true. Soresh flew backward, scorch marks spreading across his chest. The Imperial's shot went wild, sending a harmless burst of laserfire into the sky. He landed several meters away, kicking up a cloud of red dust. Han approached the body, blaster at the ready, but Soresh didn't move. His eyes gazed sightlessly up at the sky; his chest lay perfectly still.

He was dead.

It was over.

Luke couldn't believe everything had gone so smoothly. By all reports, Commander Rezi Soresh was some kind of strategic genius-but apparently his skills were overrated.

Because there was Soresh, lying on the ground dead, his plans destroyed in under five minutes.

He landed his X-wing beside Leia's. She was grinning.

"I can't believe that actually worked," she said, climbing out of the starfighter.

"What was that about my genius plan?" Han joined them, looking incredibly proud of himself. "I didn't quite hear you."

Leia ignored him. "Let's just worry about the hostages," she said, "so we can all go back to normal."

"I'll get Artoo," Luke suggested. "I bet he'll be able to figure out how to turn off the electricity and release them."

He flipped opened his comlink to summon the droid.

"I don't need some tin can to tell me how to flip a switch," Han said, heading for the prisoners' pens. "I'll just-ahh!"

The earth exploded beneath his feet. He flew backward, landing with a hard thud.

Luke and Leia ran toward him, as the explosions continued. The ground beneath the prisoners' pens lurched and buckled, as if wracked by a series of ma.s.sive groundquakes.

Or underground mines, Luke realized with horror. Chaos erupted, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Hostages screamed as they were thrown through the air by explosion after explosion. The electrified field failed, and prisoners fled across the red dust, terrified and b.l.o.o.d.y. Surrounded by wounded, desperate survivors, Luke lost sight of his friends. All he could see were the faces of frightened strangers, begging for his help.

One of them, a slim man with a pale, narrow face, limped toward Luke. Blood trickled from a wound in his forehead and flowed freely from a gash in his right leg. "Please," he whispered. "Help us."

"I will," Luke promised, hoping he could follow through.

The man threw his arms around Luke in grat.i.tude.

"It's going to be okay," Luke said quietly.

"It will now," the man said. "Now that you're here. Luke. Luke. " "

Alarm shot through Luke. He reached automatically for his lightsaber. But his hand had barely closed over the hilt when a force pike suddenly materialized in the man's hand.

It slashed through the air, landing hard on Luke's back. A concentrated nerve impulse shot through his body. As Luke's limbs went completely numb, his legs gave out beneath him.

The man lowered him gently to the ground.

"Soresh..." Luke croaked as his throat closed up, choking off his words.

"A pleasure to meet you," Soresh said.

Luke tried to stand. He tried to reach for his lightsaber. He tried to call out, to warn his friends, to do anything. But all he could do was lie still as screams ripped the air.

Darkness crept up on the corners of his vision, blotting everything out. Luke battled to stay conscious, but the force pike had overwhelmed his nervous system. The last thing he saw was Soresh's ghoulish smile.

And then the darkness won.

CHAPTER FIVE.

Luke opened his eyes. He found himself lying in a dark cell. Stun cuffs wrapped around each wrist were attached to the wall by thick chains. He was trapped.

Every muscle in his body screamed in pain, and when he tried to rise on his knees, his legs wobbled beneath him. The blow from the force pike had left him too weak to stand, nearly too weak to move. He knew the effects would wear off...but then what? Once he got his strength back, he was still chained to a wall. And even if he could escape his bonds, thick durasteel bars stood between him and freedom.

Luke reached for his lightsaber-its blade could slice through durasteel like it was bantha b.u.t.ter. But the lightsaber was gone.

He sagged back to the ground, hope fading away. A true Jedi never let his lightsaber out of his sight. But Luke had never felt less like a Jedi in his life. He had failed. Failed at rescuing the prisoners, failed at warning his friends, failed at saving himself. He should never have tried to trick Soresh. Who knew how many hostages had died because of his pride?

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice said. "So this is the famous Luke Skywalker, the man who destroyed the Death Star, who bested my best a.s.sa.s.sin. I have to admit, I thought you'd be taller."

Luke used all the strength he had to drag himself off the ground and meet Soresh eye to eye. The chains were just long enough to allow him to stand. But they kept him pinned to the wall, preventing him from crossing the cell and wrapping his hands around Soresh's throat.

"Where am I?" Luke said, trying not to sound afraid. "Where are my friends?"

Soresh clucked his tongue. "I suspect you'd rather not know their fate."

"What did you do to them?" Luke shouted. A wave of anguish swept over him. He had to escape. If Leia and Han were in trouble, he had to do something. If anything happened to them, just because they'd insisted on sticking by his side...

"I'm the one you want," Luke said. "You made that clear. Let them go, and do whatever you want to me."

"I can do whatever I want to you anyway," Soresh said coolly. "So I see no reason to bargain. And, as I say, your friends' fate is already sealed. As is yours."