Rebel Force_ Renegade Part 2

Two of the X-f0 wings peeled off from their formation and angled toward the Falcon Falcon. Laserfire streaked through s.p.a.ce, peppering the hull. The s.h.i.+elds held- but they wouldn't for long. Han took the s.h.i.+p into a steep dive, then veered to port full throttle, hoping to get below the X-f0 wings. But the small s.h.i.+ps were too maneuverable, and they shadowed him every step of the way.

"Engage hyperdrive!" Han shouted, as a blast slammed into the primary sensor array. "Let's get out of here." They weren't shooting to kill, but they were still shooting, and sooner or later, he was going to have to shoot back. And if it came to that...well, there was no way he could ever return to Yavin 4.

Not that I'm ever going back, Han reminded himself, as the s.h.i.+p bucked and shuddered beneath him. Not ever. Another volley of laserfire streaked toward them, and Han steered the s.h.i.+p into a 360 degree loop, aiming straight for the X-f0 wings. They scattered at the last minute, darting out of his way, but quickly swiveling around to take aim at the starboard s.h.i.+eld projector.

"Why aren't we in hypers.p.a.ce yet?" Han growled.

Chewbacca yelped in alarm.

"Whaddaya mean mean it's not working?" Han asked, glaring at the temperamental hyperdrive controls. "Weren't you supposed to fix that?" it's not working?" Han asked, glaring at the temperamental hyperdrive controls. "Weren't you supposed to fix that?"

Chewbacca barked angrily.

"I know know you had to come rescue me," Han admitted. "It's called mult.i.tasking." you had to come rescue me," Han admitted. "It's called mult.i.tasking."

The Wookiee snorted, then turned back to the tangled nest of frayed wiring that controlled their s.h.i.+p's hyperdrive. He warned Han that getting it up and running could take several minutes. "We don't have have several minutes," Han snarled. A barrage of laserfire raked across the s.h.i.+p. There was a spurt of fire from the port dorsal engine. A couple more hits like that and the engines would cut out all together, leaving them dead in s.p.a.ce like a sitting kaadu. "We may not even have several several minutes," Han snarled. A barrage of laserfire raked across the s.h.i.+p. There was a spurt of fire from the port dorsal engine. A couple more hits like that and the engines would cut out all together, leaving them dead in s.p.a.ce like a sitting kaadu. "We may not even have several seconds! seconds! " Han whacked the hyperdrive controls in frustration. " Han whacked the hyperdrive controls in frustration.

There was a soft whirring noise, and then the darkness of s.p.a.ce flashed blinding white. Stars streamed past the window, twinkling points stretching to long, glowing strands that turned the galaxy into a tunnel of light.

"Huh," Han said, staring in surprise at the palm of his hand. "Guess I should have tried that sooner."

They had entered hypers.p.a.ce; they were safe.

Safe from the Rebel Alliance, Han thought sourly. Never thought I'd be on the Never thought I'd be on the run from run from them. them.

They flew for several long moments in silence. Then, finally, Han couldn't stand it anymore. "Go ahead," he ordered Chewbacca. "Say it."

The Wookiee barked innocently.

"You know what," Han said, leaning back in his seat. A drop of grease from the leaking cooling tubes splattered onto his head. He'd been planning to repair the thing later that week.

Maybe this was all for the best, he told himself. He'd gotten too comfortable, hanging around with Luke and Leia, pretending he was one of them. He'd gone soft.

Chewbacca was still playing dumb.

"C'mon, say what you've been thinking ever since we left the moon," Han urged him, irritably. He could tell when the Wookiee was holding out on him. "Go on; get it off your big, hairy chest."

Chewbacca sighed, then growled.

"Well, I couldn't very well protect Luke from the inside of a jail cell, could I?"

Han retorted.

Chewbacca growled again.

"No, I don't know how I can help him from up here, either, fuzzbrain. I do know that if I don't pay back Jabba, I'm not going to be helping anyone any time soon. Hard to help when you're dead," Han said, groaning at the thought of how angry the Hutt crime lord must be by now. "We've wasted too much time playing war games. We need to rack up some credits. And in the meantime, if we happen to dig up something that'll help Luke-"

Chewbacca cut in with an insistent yowl.

"Why should I care about clearing my name?" Han scoffed. "They want to think I'm a traitor, after all I've done for them? Let 'em."

The Wookiee hooted.

"Leia?" Han forced a laugh. "Why would I care what Her Royal Wors.h.i.+pfulness thinks of me?"

Chewbacca opened his mouth as if to disagree, but Han had had enough.

"Just fly the s.h.i.+p, will ya?"

I didn't turn my back on Leia or the Rebellion, he reminded himself, taking an inventory of all the instruments that had been damaged by the Rebel attack.

They turned their backs on me.

Light. Noise. Pain. Dark.

This was Luke's reality. He opened his eyes, grasped at a familiar voice, a face, something something to hold onto, that would keep him from drifting away. But he could never hold tight enough; life was a jumble of sound and color that made no sense. He didn't know where he was; he barely knew to hold onto, that would keep him from drifting away. But he could never hold tight enough; life was a jumble of sound and color that made no sense. He didn't know where he was; he barely knew who who he was. He was a body that breathed, a body that hurt. And then his eyes would shut and the darkness would claim him again. A body that slept. he was. He was a body that breathed, a body that hurt. And then his eyes would shut and the darkness would claim him again. A body that slept.

Time had no meaning in the world of pain. It could have been hours, it could have been years.

And then it was over. He opened his eyes, and he was returned to himself.

And she was waiting for him.

"Easy," Leia said quietly, as Luke struggled to sit up. "You need to rest."

"What happened?" Luke croaked, his throat dry and cracked. But even as he spoke, he was remembering: the speeder. The explosion.

The dark warning from somewhere inside of him-or from outside? From the Force Force? The warning that had saved his life.

"Someone tried to kill you, Luke," Leia said. "If you hadn't jumped off that speeder when you did..."

"Old Ben was right," Luke murmured, amazed. " Let go of your conscious self Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct. and act on instinct. " "

"What?"

"Nothing, Just something an old friend once told me." Gingerly, Luke tested out his arms, his legs. All seemed to be in working order.

"You were injured in the blast," Leia explained, "but you've been immersed in bacta for the last few days, and you're making a full recovery. Everything should be back to normal soon."

There was a strange look in her eyes. Luke didn't understand it, but he knew that nothing was back to normal. "What aren't you telling me?"

She rested her hand on his. "Later," she said. "When you're stronger."

She was always trying to protect him. But he was stronger than she thought.

To prove it, Luke pushed himself into a sitting position. He swallowed hard, and when he spoke, his voice was clear. "Who set the explosives?" he asked.

"Has the Empire attacked?" But as soon as he said it, he knew that made no sense. n.o.body understood why Imperial forces hadn't yet attacked Yavin 4. But if the Empire had decided it was time to act, surely they wouldn't mess around with the death of a single pilot. They would destroy the base, and every living being on it.

But if not Imperial agents, then who?

"We're still investigating," Leia said.

"But you know something," Luke pushed, unsure why he was so certain. Was it because he just knew Leia well enough to see behind her mask? Or was it the Force again, guiding him toward the truth?

She held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded. "A cache of explosives was located...in Han's quarters."

"Then he was framed!" Luke exclaimed. "Han would never try to hurt me."

"That's what I thought, too," Leia said.

Thought. Past tense. Past tense.

Luke shook his head. "You can't can't think-" think-"

"I wanted to clear his name," Leia said. "I was just trying to get some information, so we'd have a place to start, but he's such a worrt-headed, hot-tempered-" She pressed her lips together, then lowered her gaze. "He broke out of custody," she said. "The Falcon Falcon lifted off without clearance and entered hypers.p.a.ce. He's gone." lifted off without clearance and entered hypers.p.a.ce. He's gone."

"But..." Luke trailed off, speechless.

"...why would an innocent man run? That's what General Dodonna said when I informed him. Maybe it's my fault." Leia gave herself a little shake, as if she was trying to slough off her doubts about Han-or maybe her loyalty to him.

"Either way, he won't be back anytime soon, not after the send-off he got." She scowled in frustration. "I told those pilots just to warn warn him, not to him, not to fire fire."

"Rebel pilots attacked Han? Han? " Luke yelped, lurching upright so quickly that a wave of dizziness swept over him. Leia put out a hand to steady him, but he shook her off. "Is he...?" " Luke yelped, lurching upright so quickly that a wave of dizziness swept over him. Leia put out a hand to steady him, but he shook her off. "Is he...?"

"He's fine," Leia a.s.sured him. "That s.h.i.+p may be a bucket of bolts, but he can still out fly anyone he-" She stopped abruptly, looking angry at herself. "Han's fine," she said brusquely. " You're You're the one in danger. And if Han didn't set those explosives-" the one in danger. And if Han didn't set those explosives-"

"He didn't," Luke cut in.

"Then whoever did is still out there," she said. "Someone's after you, Luke, and for all we know, they're going to keep coming after you until you're dead. We have to get you out of here."

"You want me to run away?" Luke asked incredulously.

"Just until we get to the bottom of this," Leia said. "Think about it-we can't trust anyone anyone."

"But-"

"The Rebel Alliance needs needs you, Luke." Leia held herself very still and upright, as she often did when she was trying to cover up some personal weakness. you, Luke." Leia held herself very still and upright, as she often did when she was trying to cover up some personal weakness.

"You're too valuable to lose. Luke-please."

That was as close as she would ever come to begging him, Luke knew, and he couldn't stand to see it. "Okay," he agreed. "Under two conditions."

"What?"

"First, you come with me."

"I'm needed here!" Leia protested.

"If I'm in danger, you could be, too," Luke reasoned. "And I'm not leaving you here to face that alone."

"What's the second condition?" Leia asked, in a weary tone that made it clear she would give in.

For the first time since waking up, Luke smiled. "I get to pick where we go."

Pathetic, X-f0 7 thought, approaching the room where Luke was recuperating.

There were no guards, no droids, nothing. As if two sentries posted at the entrance of the medcenter would be enough to keep their most valuable patient safe. Certainly, they wouldn't be enough to keep him safe from X-f0 7, who was waved along with a nod and a friendly grin.

These Rebels, so trusting.

So stupid.

X-f0 7 reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around the jet injector.

Less than four centimeters long, it fit snugly in the palm of his hand. When X-f0 7 placed a hand on his wounded friend's shoulder, no holocam would catch the tiny pinp.r.i.c.k, the injection of two milliliters of Sennari, a toxin with lethal effects.

Sennari usually killed within seconds, but for situations like this, X-f0 7 preferred to use a slow-acting variant of the poison. Luke would fade away in the night, long after X-f0 7 had left the room. As the toxin was absorbed, organs would shut down, one by one. Within hours, the toxin would disappear from Luke's bloodstream, undetectable by even the most expert doctors. Luke's total system failure would appear a natural process. Unfortunate, unavoidable.

By morning, Luke would be dead.

And everyone would believe it was due to injuries sustained in the explosion.

Making Han Solo a murderer.

It had been frustrating to watch Luke survive the explosion, but maybe it was for the best, X-f0 7 decided. Toxins were his preferred method of killing. Simple, direct-almost elegant. And no chance of error or escape.

X-f0 7 prepared a suitably genial smile, in case Luke was awake. He opened the door.

A wave of rage crested over him, nearly knocking him off his feet. He was unused to such strong emotions. He was supposed to be beyond beyond them. But it was impossible to remain calm. them. But it was impossible to remain calm.

The bed was empty.

The target-the weak, young, naive, pathetic pathetic target-was gone. target-was gone.

Which meant X-f0 7 had failed again.

CHAPTER FOUR.

Luke landed the shuttle on a desolate stretch of sand, several kilometers from the nearest outpost of civilization. Of course, on Tatooine, "civilization" was a relative term.

"Are you quite certain that this is the best hiding spot for us, Master Luke?"