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Star Wars: A Galaxy Not so Far Away - by Adam B. C
Copyright 1993 by Adam B. Colby
This is authorized for unlimited distribution as longas this message
is attached. There is a postscript file for this as well. I strongly
recommend it if you have the means to print it. This file was just
turned into text via MacWrite II. If anyone has more time on their
hands than I do, please feel free to add hard returns to this and
distribute it that way. If any one would like a Macintosh copy of
this file, binhexed etc., email me at:
[email protected]
any other questions can be directed there as well.
Also, if anyone is smarter than I am and can post to the net, feel
free. I'm not entirely sure that I have posting privileges, either
that or I'm just stupid.
Enjoy......
*******************************************************************************
...A Galaxy Not So Far Away
By Adam B. Colby
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
It was a difficult time for the rebellion. Battles were taking place
against Imperial forces all over the galaxy.
Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi Knights along with his friends
had just successfully rescued their friend and Alliance Hero, General
Han Solo from the clutches of the wretched gangster Jabba the Hutt.
The Heroes of the Alliance are heading to Sullust after a run in with
Imperial forces on Ord Yantell for an important briefing.
* * *
"Threepio! Is the nav computer online yet?" Han Solo shouted
over his shoulder at the golden droid who was trying to fix the
computer and keep his balance at the same time.
"Almost General Solo," another blast shook the __Millenium
Falcon__ and Threepio nearly fell into Princess Leia's arms as she
staggered into the cockpit. "Sir, the nav computer is back online
and..."
"Chewie start making the calculations for the jump to
hyperspace." Han flipped a comm switch on the control panel, "Luke,
bring 'em in a little closer. The __Falcon__'s jammer isn't what it
used to be, and I don't want the Imperials to hear these coordinates."
"On our way," Luke Skywalker's voice crackled over the speaker.
"How's Lando?" He asked over his shoulder
"He doesn't look good," the Leia replied. "I can't tell, but I
don't think he'll make it much longer."
Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles knocked out some final TIE
fighters and punched it to the side of the _Falcon_.
* * *
"They won't get away this time, Lord Vader I assure you,"
Captain Drekker said to the Dark Lord behind him.
"I hope not, Captain Drekker for your sake," Vader warned.
Darth Vader turned from the view screen and walked up the catwalk to
the bow windows of the Imperial Star Destroyer _Nosferatu_. Captain
Drekker raised an eyebrow and looked back at the scopes. "Lt. Fulson,
have you broken the jam yet?"
"Not yet sir, I'm working on it, sir," the young Lt. looked
from his scopes for a moment.
Captain Drekker cocked his eyebrow again and looked at Vader
who was watching the battle outside.
* * *
"Here you go Luke," Han punched the button to send the
coordinates to the two X-wings.
"Coordinates received, General," Wedge spoke.
"There's too much damage to my receiver," Luke said "Their all
fragmented. The hyperdrive's not responding." Luke looked back at his
fried Artoo unit and winced again. "Send again."
Han punched the button again.
"Got it! Let's go!"
"Punch it, Chewie!" Han said and the three ships dropped into
hyperspace.
No sooner had the three ships dropped into hyperspace, a
nearby star went supernova and sent a shock wave through the
hyperspace.
* * *
Captain's Personal Log stardate 5991.1
The _Enterprise_ is performing a routine supply run to the
Bajoran space station Deep Space Nine. The crew is in need of a little
shore leave and DS9 has some interesting diversions. Beverly Crusher
says that some of the holo-suites on the Promenade are quite
interesting. I was unable to indulge myself last time I visited this
place because I was too busy working on an aqueduct project. I must
admit I am curious and need a little rest myself. Captain Jean-Luc
Picard stood and tugged at his tunic and walked from his ready room
onto the bridge. "What is our estimated time of arrival at DS9?"
"Approximately ten minutes sir," spoke Lt. Cmdr Data. "The
docking procedure should take close to an hour, however."
"An hour?" Cmdr Riker asked astonished.
"Yes sir," Data explained, "The station has become quite a hub
of activity and they are not taking any chances with any sort of
problems."
"What kind of problems?"
"Computer viruses, diseases, collisions, or the like."
"But this is a Federation vessel," Cmdr Riker put in.
"Yes sir. I know, but it is for our protection as much as theirs."
"Captain, is this a way for Cmdr Sisco to take it out on you?"
"I don't think so Number One. I believe our differences are
more or less resolved. When your dealing with so many different races,
some of whom we've had no contact at all with, you cannot be too
cautious."
"I see."
"Captain," Data interrupted, "We are entering the system."
"Drop out of warp Mr. Data and proceed at full impulse."
"Aye, sir."
The _Enterprise_ arrived at DS9 and began the docking procedures.
* * *
"What the Hell was that?"
"WWWRRRRONK"
"How should I know? Luke? Wedge? Do you read?"
"I read you General. What the hell just happened?"
"I don't know, but we're off the charts. It felt like a star
went supernova or we hit an uncharted blackhole. Where's Luke? Luke do
you copy?"
"He's still with us. His transmitter must be out. I'll fly
over and take a look," Wedge banked his X-wing over to Luke's.
Han turned his attention to the instruments, "Let's try and
figure out where the hell we are." He flipped the intercom switch,
"Leia are you guys alright back there?"
"Yes, Han. What happened?"
"We got knocked out the galaxy, it looks like. We're still
trying working on it."
"Well at least we're safe from the Imperials."
"Yeah, but that doesn't help Lando."
"I know."
"Han, Luke's life support and radio are out. His battery is
just about dead. It will only take about one more jump."
"Understood, Wedge. We may have to dump the ship, tell him to
get into his extra-vehicle suit."
"Yes, sir."
Wedge signaled to Luke what Han had said and Luke nodded and
began the uncomfortable task of removing the suit from behind his seat
and putting it on in a very limited space. "There are some things even
the Force can't help." Luke mumbled to himself. Just as he got turned
around in his seat, a strange tremor in the Force filled him. He
turned around just to see a vortex in space open up and swallow all
three ships. As they careened through the warp, Luke was pounded by an
intense feeling in the Force. He slipped into unconsciousness.
* * *
"Commander, there are three ships coming out of the wormhole,
without clearance."
"Hail them, Mr. O' Brien," Cmdr Sisco ordered moving to a view
screen and watched as two small fighters and a freighter sized ship
fell out of the opening and the wormhole closed behind them.
"Channel Open, sir," O'Brien said.
"Unidentified ships, please identify yourselves," he waited a moment.
"Sir, one of the fighter class ships is apparently out of control."
"Get him in a tractor beam Mr. O'Brien."
"Aye, sir. Sir, life support is failing in that ship the pilot
is unconscious."
"Get him out of there."
O'Brien's hands flew over the transporter controls. He engaged
the transporter and the crumpled figure of Luke Skywalker materialized
on the platform.
"Sisco to Bashir. Medical assistance to Ops immediately."
"Incoming message sir, audio only."
"Put it on."
"Space station, this is the _Millenium Falcon_. We have a
medical emergency, do you have facilities that we could use."
"Certainly, we have already transported him off of his ship and into the station."
"What?" Han questioned.
"We beamed him off the fighter his life support had failed."
Sisco looked at Luke just as Bashir and some medics came into Ops.
"Our emergency is on this ship," Han tried to explain.
Sisco ran a finger across his throat to cut the transmission.
O'Brien shook his head. Sensors cannot penetrate the
shielding. Our transporters will be ineffective if there is someone on
board.
"Open a channel to the _Enterprise_ their sensors and
transporters are more powerful."
"Yes, Cmdr, how can we help you," Captain Picard was at the conn.
"Those three ships that just came out of the wormhole. There
is a wounded person on the freighter. Our transporters are too weak to
penetrate the ship's shielding."
"Understood. Picard out. Transporter room try and lock onto
the wounded person on the ship to our port and beam them directly to
sickbay. Sickbay, stand by."
* * *
Leia picked herself off the floor and shook her head. Whatever
happened had knocked her out temporarily. She looked at Lando, he was
still unconscious from the medication they had given after he was
wounded.. Suddenly, his body lost all cohesion and he disappeared.
Leia was taken aback. She thumbed the intercom switch on the wall.
"Han, Lando just disappeared."
Han looked shocked and just as he reached for the comm switch
it bleeped. He flipped it angrily.
"Freighter _Millenium Falcon_ this is the Federation Starship
U.S.S. _Enterprise_." This was a different voice. Clipped and
structured, it almost sounded like and Imperial officer. "We have
transported your casualty to our medical facility. I apologize for not
consulting you first, but his life signs were failing."
Han sat back for a second. "Thank you," he managed, even
though he was supposed to be mad. "What the Hell is going on? Where
the hell are we?"
"Deep Space Nine in the Bajoran System, Alpha Quadrant,"
Picard replied.
"What?" Han replied, even more flustered than before.
"Perhaps you should transport over the _Enterprise_ and we can
discuss this. The station crews can take care of the docking
regulations and procedures for your ships. Do you have transporters?"
"No...uh..."
"Fine, we have your locks prepare for transport."
"Okay..."
Han, Leia, Chewbacca and Wedge all disappeared and reappeared
in the _Enterprise_ transporter room. Chewbacca screamed and
leaped onto the closest thing, which happened to be the security
officer Worf.
"CHEWIE!" Han rushed after him and tried to hold him back.
Worf held his own as best he could against the seven foot
Wookie, but it took Han talking him out of popping the Klingon's head
off. The security team arrived phasers drawn and Han moved back, "Hey
there boys, let's not go nuts here. Let's talk about this."
"At ease," Worf said rubbing his throat.
"He's just a little jumpy that's all. He doesn't mean anything
by it," Han explained to Worf.
Chewbacca groaned an apology.
"I must ask for your weapons," Worf said indicating Han and
Wedge's blaster and Chewbacca's crossbow.
"Uh...sure," Han reluctantly handed over his blaster butt
first. Wedge handed his over, but Worf had to physically remove the
even more reluctant Wookie's weapon.
A bearded officer came in and introduced himself as Cmdr
William Riker, first officer.
"I'm General Han Solo, this is Chewbacca, my first mate, this
is Cmdr Wedge Antilles of Rogue Squadron and Princess Leia Organa."
"Princess Leia," Riker took her hand, "I'm pleased to meet you."
Leia smiled coyly and Han stepped in between them, "Can we see
Lando and Luke?"
"We only have one man on this ship the other must be on the
station. He's in sickbay being treated now. He was a lucky guy. Right
now let's meet with the Captain and see if we can't sort this all
out." Riker led the four out of the transporter room into the
corridor. He smiled at Leia as she left. Han took her hand as if to
stake his claim, but she pulled it away.
* * *
The four rebels followed Cmdr Riker down the corridor. Riker
pointed out things of interest to Princess Leia, but the others fell
back a few paces, speaking in hushed voices.
"You think we got tossed out of the galaxy?" asked Wedge.
"I'm not sure. The _Falcon_'s charts are the best in the
Alliance and we're clear the Hell and gone away from any markers. I
don't even recognize the stars," Han explained surveying the ship
around him.
"Good point," Wedge nodded doing the same.
"What happened with Luke?"
"His life-support was failing...I think he was unconscious
when we got here...wherever here is. The last time I looked he wasn't
in the ship. They must have transported him out, but not to this ship
apparently. I don't like leaving my ship to some alien I've never
heard of."
"Neither do I," Han agreed, "but did you see some of those
ships, one of them could have easily taken out a frigate, let alone
the _Falcon_. I don't think we had much of a choice." Han stepped up
between Riker and Leia "Say, how do those transporters work anyway?"
he asked in mock levity, taking Leia's hand again.
* * *
"I don't know what it is, I've never seen anything like it. Odo?" Dr.
Bashir asked the Constable. "I have no idea..." Cmdr Sisco flipped a
switch on the metal cylinder and a green beam shot out three feet and
stayed there humming. "It appears to be powerful however," Odo
finished. "How is the patient?" Sisco asked the Doctor. "He appears
to be human, but his brain waves are hugely amplified. Even more than
a Betazoid or telepath." Bashir answered looking at his medical
tricorder. "Can you wake..." Before Sisco could finish, Luke sat up
stiffly and shook his head. "Where am I?" He asked slightly
bewildered. He could sense thousands around him, some humans, but
mostly aliens, different from any he'd felt before. "You are in the
medical facility on Deep Space Nine," Sisco acknowledged courteously.
"Your ship lost life support and we transported you out unconscious.
Your ship is safe in the security bay." "What system is this?"
"Bajor," Sisco answered. "Never heard of it," he said his eyes
focussed on Odo who was examining the lightsaber. "Your weapon will
have to be confiscated until you leave. No one is allowed weapons on
the station." "Fair, enough," Luke said. "There were two other ships
with me are they alright?" "The other fighter and the freighter were
fine," Sisco replied. "There was a casualty on the freighter, he was
beamed aboard the Federation Starship _Enterprise_." "You should
rest," Dr. Bashir interrupted. "You can see them soon." "I feel
okay," said Luke calmly. Bashir looked at the tricorder. "All your
bodily functions are stable. It appears you have a miraculous recovery
rate. I see no reason to hold you," he shrugged. Luke looked at his
right hand and moved the servo-motors. "Your artificial hand was
damaged, I took the liberty of repairing it for you. I've never seen
prosthetic construction like that before." "I'm from a long ways
away. It feels like new. Thank you." Luke hopped off the biobed and
instinctively felt for his lightsaber. He remembered and let it go,
reluctantly. "I'll take you to the _Enterprise_, Mr...." Odo faltered
"Skywalker, Luke Skywalker."
* * *
"Captain we have their coordinates..." Lt. Fulson announced. "Good,
set course," commanded Captain Drekker looking at his readout. Lord
Vader overheard and began walking back to the navigation pit. "But
sir, their coordinates took them past a supernova star, we can't
safely follow." "You have found them Captain?" Vader's voice boomed
over Drekker's shoulder. Drekker paused and turned to face Vader,
"Yes, my Lord, however, a star went supernova minutes ago along their
course and we can't..." "I don't have time for excuses, Captain. Set
course." "Yes, my Lord," Drekker turned and gestured to the nervous
Lt. Drekker tensed his face. I could handle this just fine MY LORD!
He looked down the catwalk after Vader, and didn't think anything.
Lt. Fulson thumbed a comm switch, "Prepare for the jump to
lightspeed," his voice echoed throughout the _Nosferatu_.
* * *
As DS9's tractors set the _Falcon_ down on the deck between the two
battered X-wings, the door irised shut above the three ships. The hiss
of pressurization stopped and Threepio opened the main gangway and
walked out complaining about the lack of manners on the part of this
station. He nearly ran into two maintenance workers. They were
startled. They hadn't seen a robot like this before and didn't know
how to deal with it. They looked at each other. Finally one spoke.
"Who are you?" "I am See-Threepio, human-cyborg relations..." "Well,
See-Threepio, you'll have to wait inside the ship until your security
clearance comes through." Threepio stopped and cocked his head. "I
must tend to the Artoo unit in that X-wing, he's been severely
damaged." "What?" the two men looked at each other. "Look it will all
be taken care of, you need to wait inside." Threepio went back up the
ramp cursing as only a protocol droid can curse, and closed the hatch.
* * *
"Do you think that it is possible that these Imperials could have
tracked you here?" Picard asked leaning back in his chair and studying
the General seated opposite him. "Well, that's just it, we're not
even sure where here is? When we jumped to hyperspace, I think
something happened, a supernova, an uncharted blackhole or something
threw us off course...way off course. It was almost impossible to tell
anything. Most of the _Falcon_'s systems were damaged and the nav
computer wasn't working right." "Big surprise," Leia said under her
breath. Chewbacca growled a chuckle. Han shot them both a warning
glance. Leia butted in. "The truth is Captain Picard, we don't know
what happened. The Imperials could have gotten our transmission to the
fighters..." "To the fighters?" Geordie asked. "Our fighters don't
have nav computer," explained Wedge, "all of our hyperspace jumps are
handled by droids." "As far as I can tell," Han took the initiative
again "We're a helluva long ways from where we started." "Agreed,"
Picard sat up. "If you could furnish Lt. Cmdr Data with your star
charts, we may be able to match them to the proper system, or indeed
the proper galaxy." "I'll have to get to my ship," Han said looking
at the pale android. "Worf, Data, accompany the General and Chewbacca
to the station, and deal with the security measures," "Aye, sir," said
both Data and Worf. "Excuse me Captain," Han stood, "but can we see
Lando first?" "Certainly," smiled Picard. They stood and Luke walked
in followed by Odo. "Luke!" Leia ran and gave him a hug and a kiss.
Chewie hugged him as well. "Looking good kid, you had us scared for a
minute!" "Thanks, Han." "Captain?" asked Wedge, "Would it be
possible to get to the fighters? We need to get started on repairs."
"Certainly. Cmdr LaForge will give you a hand with any of the
necessary tools or replicating parts." "Thank you, Captain," Han
acknowledged. Everyone walked out into the corridor and followed
Data. Worf walked in the opposite direction with Odo. Riker and Picard
were left in the conference room. "Some interesting guests, eh Number
One?" "Yes, sir!" Riker looked after the Princess as they disappeared
around the corer. "Will!" Deanna Troi chided. "Deanna," Picard asked
"What did you sense about our guests?" "General Solo is a con-artist.
He's not really lying to us. His exagerrattion and arrogance are more
to make him look better. He has the personality of a gambler or a
pirate rather than a military general. Still he cares about his
friends and his ship, very deeply and although it is contradictory, he
cares about the rebellion. Chewbacca is primitive in his desires, but
extremely loyal and intelligent. He has an enormous attachment to the
General. Cmdr Antilles is a very straightforward rebel. He believes in
his cause and has the youthful exuberance that will see him through a
fight. The Princess is very intelligent and relaxed. A diplomat maybe,
she feels for the cause against the Empire more than any of them.
There is something strange about her though. There's something of the
same sort about Luke Skywalker, only much more. He may be a...I don't
know." "Skywalker?" Puzzled Riker, "How did you know his name?" "I
don't know?" Deanna looked at the Captain, who raised his eyebrows in
response.
* * *
"Lando! How you feeling ol' buddy?" Han hugged his friend. "Fine you
old pirate." he said "The medicine here is great," he whispered
indicating Beverly Crusher. Han looked and nodded. "How are you
Chewbacca?!" Lando asked. Chewie roared and shook Lando's hand with
his huge paw. "General Calrissian," Beverly stepped in. "Lando,
please." "You need your rest," she gave him a hypo of a sedative. He
fell asleep. "Your friend is extremely lucky, he looks like he got
shot with a laser blast of some sort." Han looked at him and back at
the doctor, "The laserturret he was in took a direct hit. It was a
pretty fierce fight." Crusher looked at Chewbacca, whose arm was
bandaged. "Your arm is injured let me take..." Chewie growled and
pushed her away. "HEY!" Han yelled at him. "Is that any way to treat
a lady? Give her your arm!" He grabbed Chewie's arm and the doctor ran
a medical tricorder over the cut. "Seems straightforward enough, even
with your strange biology." She grabbed an instrument from the counter
and ran it over his arm. Chewie tried futilely to pull his arm away,
instead he looked away. "You big coward!" Han chided. "Thank you,
Doctor. We should get started on the ships. Cmdr Data..." Han turned
to the android and followed him off the ship.
* * *
"I understand your position Cmdr, but we may be dealing with more than
we bargained for. These people are freedom fighters of some kind and
from the sounds of it this Empire isn't very friendly, to anybody. The
Prime Directive may not shield us from this, if they are able to track
these rebels and follow them here. General Solo thinks that they were
pushed a huge distance by a freak accident, but it is possible for the
Imperials to show up." "I understand, Captain, but this is my station
and my security regulations. I must ask that they be obeyed, it is for
everyone's safety." "Agreed." "Sisco out." Picard's image
disappeared from the view screen. "Major, Chief, I want you to go down
to security bay six and aid their repairs and keep an eye on them."
Major Kira and Chief O'Brien left Ops on the lift and Sisco went to
his office.
* * *
Geordie let a long sliding whistle despite himself when he saw the
three battle scarred ships, and set his tool case down. Han glared
back at him for a second, but didn't say anything. He opened the main
hatchway to the _Falcon_ and went in toward the cockpit. Threepio met
him already complaining. "Quit your bellyaching," Han spat. Do you
know what's wrong with the _Falcon_?" "No sir, I..." "What the hell
have you been doing all of this time?" "Sir, The computer is damaged,
the power reserves are drained and..." "Shut up! I don't want any
excuses. Go outside and coordinate with the guy with the glasses and
the android." Threepio's eyes lit up at the mention of android. He
turned around and went down the ramp. Han sat in the pilot's seat and
flipped the power selector. Nothing. He punched it. Power came on for
a moment, but quickly drained. Han shook his head and left the
cockpit. He took off a wall panel and ducked into the compartment.
There was a loud crash and a scream and the power flicked back on.
"CHEWIE! Get in here!" Outside, Luke and Geordie were trying to
extract the scorched lump of metal that was Artoo-Detoo. Threepio
would have been fretting, but he was too busy bragging to Cmdr Data
about his six million forms of communication. Wedge was pulling Luke's
hyperdrive apart and trying to separate the hyperdirve motivator from
the power converters and the alluvial dampers. Chewbacca came out and
handed a data card to Data. "Chewbacca says those are the _Millenium
Falcon_'s star charts," Threepio translated the Wookie's growls.
"Good I shall get started assimilating the information immediately,"
Data said and turned to Threepio. "I may need some assistance." "I
would be glad to assist you Lt. Cmdr Data," Threepio volunteered. As
the two were leaving the security bay, two maintenance men came in
with an anti-grav cart. "Take that unit over there to main
engineering aboard the _Enterprise_." "Yes sir," the men
acknowledged. Data and Threepio left for the _Enterprise_, and passed
O'Brien and Kira on their way into the bay. "Chief! Good to see you,"
Geordie welcomed his old friend. "I understand you could use some
help here," Miles asked looking around at the piles of debris that
were accumulating as the rebels tore their ships apart. "Could we
ever! Some of these systems are as foreign as anything in the
universe. I could use some help figuring out how to fix them without
the proper parts." "Let's get cracking then shall we?" O'Brien and
LaForge began helping Luke and Wedge piece Luke's hyperdrive back
together. Major Kira was lurking around taking mental notes of things
that were being said. Hoping to gain some information about what these
newcomers might be up to. She looked around, wondering where Odo was.
Han came out of the _Falcon_ and saw Major Kira from the rear. "Hey!
Could you give me a hand with this power cable?" She turned around
and Han's eyes lit up. "Excuse me?" "Uh, I need to pull this power
cable into the main energizer." "Oh," she said and picked up the
black tube. They carried it through the main corridor past the
gunwell. It was full of debris and scorched. The upper gunwell had
taken a direct hit, or several. Han cringed as he passed by it. "What
happened here?" Kira asked. "We were in a fire fight with a star
destroyer and it took a direct hit from a turbolaser battery. My
friend was nearly killed," Han explained. He continued on and stopped
to plug the power cable into the main energizer. "General Solo!"
Geordie's voice echoed through the corridor. "Yeah?" Han yelled back.
"Permission to come aboard?" "Yeah," Han thought for a second, "Come
on up here, I might need a hand." Geordie found Han and Kira in the
cargo bay at the engineering station. Han was looking frustrated as
the amount of work the ship needed was becoming more and more clear.
"Is there any way to get some materials to seal up some of this
damage?" "What kind of materials? What needs sealed up?" "Over
here," Han led him to the gun well. Geordie hissed at the sight of
the wreckage. "What was here?" "A gun, just like that one," Han
indicated the almost spotless lower quad. "How would you like a new
gun?" "Really?" Han's face lit up for a second, then he frowned.
"What'll it cost?" "Just a good look at your drive system. I've never
seen anything like it." "Few people have kid," Han said looking
around. "How are you going to do it?" "I'll have to get the specs and
we can replicate the parts and put it together. In fact any parts that
you need we can replicate." "Are you any good with computers?" Han
was beginning to like this blind kid. "Depends," Geordie shrugged.
"Hold on, let me get a crew started on this gun." He tapped his
communicator, "LaForge to _Enterprise_. Send a replicating crew to DS9
security bay six." Han shook his head at the unusual level of
efficiency and led Geordie to the nav computer in the cockpit. * The
following morning, after all of the repairs had been made to the
_Falcon_ and the X-wings, the rebels woke up in their luxurious cabins
on the _Enterprise_. Each was well rested and feeling much better.
Han took a sonic shower and shaved his now well-grown beard. He pulled
out clean clothes and put the old ones in the duffle that he'd pulled
off the _Falcon_ last night. Chewbacca was milling aroud the cabin,
having found that the sonic shower was not nearly as satisfying as Han
had found it. He had slept on the floor, not wanting to be away from
his friend. The doorbell bleeped, "Yeah?" Han said looking for his
other sock. Wedge came in the door. "Hey Wedge. How ya feelin'?"
"Good, This is a great ship isn't it?" "Yeah. Pretty cushy," Han
agreed finding his sock and pulling on his boots. "I was talking to
the android, Data, and he was explaining some of the technology to me.
Not only is it powerful, it's fast!" Han stopped and looked up. "How
fast?" He asked defensively. "They use a totally different drive
system, technically the can't even break lightspeed, they use a warp
field, it kind of bends space as near as I can tell." "I wouldn't
mind having a few ships like this in the fleet." "I know what you
mean." The door bleeped again, this time it was Leia. "They're ready
for us in the conference room. Let's see if we can find a way home,
shall we?" The four of them left the room. "Where's Luke?" Asked
Wedge." "Probably lost," quipped Han, Chewie growled at him. * They
walked into the conference room. Luke and Lando were there in uniform.
Picard and Riker stood as the four rebels entered. Luke and Lando were
in a discussion as were Beverly and Deanna. "Welcome," Picard
indicated some seats. "We can begin as soon as the station liaison and
Cmdrs Data and LaForge arrive." Han sat nearest Picard and Leia took
a seat offered by the grinning Cmdr Riker. "Captain," Han asked. "Has
there been any progress finding out where we are and if it is possible
to get back?" "I believe so General. Cmdr Data has the details and he
will brief us in a moment. You all seem very anxious to get back to
what seems like a rather tense situation." "We're at war," Han
stated. "We're fighting for the freedom of the Galaxy..." he said a
little louder than he wanted to. Leia looked at him and a smile
crossed her lips. "There is a rumor that the Empire is building a
super weapon. Powerful enough to destroy an entire planet." Picard's
face went blank. The thought crossed his mind that these people may be
battling the Borg, but he dismissed it. "We're expected at Sullust in
a week..." The door opened and Artoo-Detoo rolled in looking as good
as new. See-Threepio followed him in. Data, Geordie and Sisco were
right behind. "Let's begin shall we?" Picard sat down. "Mr. Data..."
"Aye, sir," Data walked to the holoscreen and turned it on. "After
studying the star charts provided by General Solo, I have found what I
think to be your probable point of origin." The animation on the
screen was of federation space, but expanded out to show the whole
galaxy and zoomed out faster until the screen was filled with what
looked like stars, but were actually galaxies. One galaxy illuminated.
"This, I believe is your galaxy some 300 trillion light years away."
The room was filled with gasps and exchanged glances. "It appears
that an anomaly caused by an exploding star caused a rift in the
hyperspace, in which your ships travel. You arrived in the Gamma
quadrant and basically fell into the wormhole. The anomaly, if it is
as I theorize it to be, should remain stable for several days and
should work in reverse. It essentially acts as a "hyperwormhole."
However, it can also be used by others, if the Imperial ship were to
track you, it would end up at the other end of the wormhole, and may
be able to track you through it to this system." Again, faces were
shocked and glances were shot across the table. Geordie stood up and
Data sat down, "We think that we can create an opening at this end
using a hyperdrive on a photon torpedo modified with an experimental
Carbon-60 zero-point detonator. We think we can create an explosion
large enough to create an opening, luckily, it doesn't have to be as
strong as a supernova. Unfortunately, It must be fired from the other
side of the wormhole, so if the Star Destroyer shows show up, we may
be in for a bit of a situation." Geordie sat down again. All eyes
were on Captain Picard. "Mr. LaForge and Mr. Data, you are to work on
that torpedo. Cmdr Sisco, I think you will agree that we are in a very
real danger of attack by these Imperials." "Yes sir," Sisco agreed.
"It is my belief that these Imperials are not going to take well to
negotiation. We should still try, but I think we would be best to plan
for the worst." "Agreed. I'll send a Runabout to the far side of the
wormhole as a lookout." "The _Enterprise_ will undock so we can
maneuver. I suggest that the Alliance ships be brought aboard the
_Enterprise_ in the main shuttle bay." "Agreed," Sisco nodded. He
turned to Han, "General, we will make the arrangements within the
hour." He tapped his communicator, "Sisco to DS9 Ops." "O'Brien here
sir." "O'Brien, you and Kira take the _Nile_ to the other side of the
wormhole and stand lookout for unfriendly visitors." "Aye, sir,
O'Brien out." Picard stood "Dismissed."
* * *
"Lord Vader, the ship is prepared for the jump to hyperspace," Captain
Drekker informed the Dark Lord as he stared out into the blackness.
"Make the jump," he said not looking at the Captain. "Yes, my lord,"
He turned on his heel and gave the signal to engage the hyperdrive.
The ship flickered and was gone. No sooner had they settled into
hyperspace, the ship was rocked and nearly torn apart. The Star
Destroyer _Nosferatu_ hurdled through space out of control. People and
equipment were thrown about, even Darth Vader had to grab onto the
railing so as not to be tossed around. "As I feared sir," Lt. Fulson
advised Captain Drekker, "We have hit a hyperspace shock wave from a
supernova..." the Lt. was thrown to the floor of the operations pit.
He picked himself up against all of the other officers and men falling
around him, too frightened to do their jobs. All but Lt. Fulson began
to choke and claw at their throats. "We are off of our charts, we are
nowhere near a marker of any kind." The ship was beginning to steady.
"Disengage the hyp..." Before Captain Drekker could finish,
everything stopped. The ship stabilized and the stars returned to
normal. Drekker threw a sidelong glance at Vader as he pulled himself
to his feet with as much dignity as possible. "What happened,
Captain?" Vader asked as he walked toward Drekker. "As we feared, we
have been knocked, as far as we can tell, out of the galaxy by a
hyperspace shock wave from the supernova. We have no idea how far
we've come or where we are, my Lord," Drekker spat. "Is this where
the rebels went, Captain," he said the word 'Captain' with a sense of
impermanence. "My Lord," Drekker took a visible breath. He was rarely
shaken, but Vader was beginning to grate on his last nerve. "There is
no way to tell if this is where they came or not. We don't even know
where we are. We will have to run tests and see if we can find a trace
of them," the Captain had regained his composure. "Excellent,
Captain. I will be in my chambers, I will be notified of your progress
every hour." He turned and walked off the bridge. Drekker turned
away. "Lt., Launch scout ships and run full scanner sweeps. Let us try
to find out where our rebel friends have gotten to, shall we?" "Sir,
long range radio transmission will be impossible. There is some sort
of electromagnetic interference, it must be related to the shock
wave." "Tell the TIEs to stick with their wings then." "Very good,
sir," Fulson began attending to his duties. Several squadrons of
TIE/rc fighters emerged from the ventral Docking bay of the star
destroyer. The began combing the system for the rebels.
* * *
Deanna. Can you here me? Luke reached out across the Promenade on DS9.
Yes, Luke. I knew it! You are a telepath. She walked toward him. "No.
Not really. Where I am from, some have the power to manipulate the
Force. An energy field created by all the living things in the
universe that binds the universe together. Once there were thousands
of warriors called Jedi Knights that utilized this to spread justice
and peace throughout our galaxy. I am the last of the knights. You are
a telepath?" "No," She replied in awe of what he just told her. "I am
any empath. I can sense what others are feeling. I'm only telepathic
with other Betazoids." The two started walking through the Promenade
toward the security bays. "Then you are not human?" he asked puzzled.
"Only half," she replied. She looked puzzled for a moment. "Is the
Princess a Jedi knight?" Luke was startled that she even had the
idea. "No...she may be someday however. We are closely related. She is
very strong in the Force." "You are very concerned about the man that
is following you." "Yes. Darth Vader is a dark Jedi. His soul was
consumed by evil, but I believe he may be saved. I must confront him
soon." "You care for him, this man who is trying to kill you." "I
suppose that you could say that. He's my father. Or used to be before
turning to the darkside. "Oh," Deanna was shocked. "It was a
conscious choice for him to turn?" "The dark side is very powerful
and seductive. A man...or woman with a weakness of spirit may be
tempted down the wrong path." Luke changed the subject, "You have a
strength in the Force that I haven't felt for a long time." "I do?"
Deanna was taken aback by this. "How could I..." "Ah...You must be
the traveler I've heard so much about!" Suddenly Quark stepped in
front of them his arms full of trashy trinkets. "You must desire
things to take with you. Souvenirs, gifts, trinkets. I..." "No, thank
you," Luke said and kept walking. "No, Thank you," Quark said
glazedly. Luke passed into the crowd and Quark shook his head. "How,
did you...?" Deanna was shocked that Quark was turned away so quickly.
"The Force has a strong influence over the weak minded," Luke smiled
remembering his former teacher Ben Kenobi. "You mean you manipu..."
"No, I just nudged it. I have the ability to warp people's minds. Make
them lose concentration, even distort their realities, but that is
dangerously close to the darkside." They arrived at Security Bay Six.
Constable Odo was standing outside the door with Luke's lightsaber in
his hand. "It appears that you will be leaving us Cmdr Skywalker,"
Odo risked a rare smile and handed Luke his lightsaber. "You may need
this in the coming fight. Good Luck." Luke shook Odo's hand. "May the
Force be With You." Odo gave Luke a bewildered look and strode off.
* * *
"PS917M-Q" the TIE pilot called over the radio. "My scanners are
showing a distortion in space over here at coordinates 98.10.5."
"PS372, My sensors are showing the same thing." "Head back to the
_Nosferatu_ and inform the Captain and Lord Vader." "On my way."
Just then the Wormhole opened up and sucked the TIEs through.
* * *
"Chewie, get the ship ready for lift off," Han called to Chewie. The
Wookie went inside the ship and almost immediately the Falcon came
alive, purring like a kitten. "Get these specs to Cmdr Data, pronto,
so he can get started on the torpedo's hyperdrive," Geordie handed the
PADD to an ensign and he walked briskly to the transporter room.
"Well, General, it looks like we got all the information we need for
the hyperdrive. It should work for a few minutes anyway. I'll be
heading back to the _Enterprise_ now. I'll see you on board." "Wait,"
Han stopped him, "I can take you over there." Geordie's face lit up.
"I wouldn't want to impose." "I need a navigator. I don't know where
the hell the main hanger bays are on that ship of yours. Get on
board." Geordie half-ran onto the ship. He took a seat in the cockpit
behind Han's. Han sat in the pilot's chair and put his headset on,
"Luke, do you copy?" "Loud and clear, Han." "Wedge?" "Gotcha,
General." "DS9 control. _Millenium Falcon_ and two X-Wing fighters
ready for departure to _Enterprise_. Request Clearance for security
Bay Six." "_Millenium Falcon_ you are clear. Security Bay Six is open
and ready for your departure." "_Millenium Falcon_ out." The
thrusters under the _Falcon_ and the two X-Wings ignited and the ships
lifted out of the bay and pivoted toward the _Enterprise_. "DS9
control. _Millenium _Falcon__ and fighters clear."
* * *
"Runabout _Nile_ to DS9," O'Brien radioed, "I'm about to enter the
wormhole." "You are clear for passage, _Nile_," Odo's voice came over
the speaker. O'Brien engaged the warp engines to warp 1 and the
wormhole opened its huge, cavernous mouth and swallowed the Runabout.
Once inside the wormhole, the window was filled with the lights and
colors that he was just getting used to. The proximity alarm began to
wail and his ship nearly ran head-on into two small craft. He swerved
the ship, and missed. "Could be the Imperials," he said. He shot out
of the far end of the wormhole and dropped out of warp. A huge ship
was on the scope. He brought the view to full magnification. "The Star
Destroyer," He said in sheer awe of it's size. He tried to fire the
maneuvering thrusters, but they were offline. "Damn! The warp engines
too." By now they could see a ship of unknown configuration coming
toward them. "What I wouldn't give for a cloaking device," he looked
at Kira's somber expression.
* * *
"Captain all recon/scanning patrols are in, except two," Fulson
reported. "Were they destroyed?" "No, Captain, there was no fight,
they just disappeared from our scopes. Then another ship reappeared, I
cannot tell it's class, it could be one of the TIEs" Drekker raised
his eyebrows. "Send a party out to look for them, and bring in this
other ship if it isn't the TIE. This may not have been the safest
place for the rebels to hide." "Yes, Captain." * The three rebel
ships were heading for the _Enterprise_ when the two TIEs emerged from
the wormhole. "What are those ships?" Geordie indicated to Han.
Han's face lost all expression. He flipped the comm switch "Two
Imperial TIE fighters 10 o'clock." "Got 'em," Luke said, "Lock spars
in attack position." The two X-Wings' S-foils moved to position, but
they stayed in formation. "Lando," Han called, "Get the Quads up!"
Lando ran around the corner and to the upper quad gun. Han turned to
Geordie. "It looks like your getting to try out your handiwork, kid.
Take the other quad. "Yes, sir!" Geordie jumped up and got into
position on the lower gun. He glanced at Lando who gave him a thumbs
up. "Just point and shoot kid. It's as easy as a Twilekkian Whore,"
Lando smiled. Geordie adjusted himself and got ready. "Here we go
kiddos," Han hollered. The X-Wings broke off and sped ahead to the
bewildered TIE fighters. The TIEs reacted quickly however. A quick and
dirty firefight took place. Luke and Wedge expertly exterminated one
and Geordie took out the other at the behest of Han's piloting. "We'd
better get to _Enterprise_, Chewie," Han said, "Regroup and head for
_Enterprise_, kids," Han called to Luke and Wedge. Lando and the numb
Geordie walked into the cockpit. "Nice shooting, kid," Han said with a
smile. "Now where do I park this thing?" Geordie guided the three
ships to the main shuttle bay.
* * *
"It seems our friends have taken the initiative with the Imperials,"
Cmdr Riker said over the din of the red alert klaxons. Troi looked at
Riker, "I think they may know better than we do, who they are dealing
with." She looked out into the shuttle bay as the _Millenium Falcon_
swung around inside the huge bay. "That doesn't sound like you.
You're usually willing to give everyone a chance," Riker was looking
at her intently. "I talked with Luke Skywalker today. He is an
incredibly powerful person. He can manipulate 'the Force,' the energy
that surrounds all living things. His powers extend even to mind
control, although he will not go that far..." "How do you know?"
Riker challenged. Deanna looked at him as if she didn't believe what
he had just said. "He could be manipulating your mind," Riker said.
"I trust him, Will," she said effectively ending the argument. The
_Falcon_ settled into place facing to the exit, for quick launch and
was flanked on either side by the X-Wings. Captain Picard, Princess
Leia, Data and Worf joined Riker and Troi on the observation balcony.
The _Falcon_'s main hatchway opened and the X-Wing cockpits popped
open. "Our friends have arrived it appears. I have some bad news, I'm
afraid. The Imperials have captured Chief O'Brien and Major Kira."
Both Riker and Troi's faces went blank.
* * *
"How're ya doin' back here Artoo?" Luke asked of his robot friend. A
whistle of excitement told Luke that he was fine and that he was glad
to be flying starfighters again. "Very funny, Artoo," Luke jumped
down to the deck. He walked over to the main hatchway. Han and Geordie
came down followed by Lando and Chewbacca. "Did you see that shot,
Luke?" Han pointed to Geordie. "Just like he'd been doing it
forever." Wedge joined them as did the Captain and everyone else.
Worf handed Chewie, Han, Wedge and Lando their weapons. "You may be
needing these. I'm afraid I have some bad news." Picard announced.
* * *
"We've done nothing!"
"Where are you taking us?"
"Silence!" the Stormtrooper's voice came out of the speaker in his
helmet. Kira and O'Brien looked at each other and readjusted their
hands in their bindings. They followed the two white armored troopers
and glanced back at the other two troops. They were led to a prison
block and locked in separate cells. The doors of their cells slammed
shut and they were left alone. O'Brien tapped his communicator out of
reflex. Kira's communicator beeped in the next cell. "Chief?" she
tapped her communicator in surprise. "Major, it appears that their
communication blocks, if they have any, aren't set for our
frequencies. We should keep our communications down, though, or they
might figure it out," O'Brien told Kira. Nearly a half an hour passed
and Kira and O'Brien spent most of the time searching their cells for
any sort of way to escape. Kira had just given up looking and sat down
on the sleeping slab when the door hissed open. A huge black-armored
figure strode accompanied by two of the white armored troopers into
the cell. The door slammed down behind them. Kira was taken aback for
a moment. "Who the hell are you? Why have you taken us prisoner? We
have done not..." Kira was cut off. "I will ask the questions, Major
Kira," the black figure spoke, his breathing was separate from his
speech and his voice was impossibly deep and foreboding. "You will
tell me how your ship arrived here and where the rebel criminals are
hiding." "I don't know what you're talking about! We were on a
scientific research mission gathering data about this wormhole. We
have not seen any criminals." "You are lying!" He paused, the hiss of
his mechanical breathing filled Kira's ears, "Perhaps we will find new
ways to motivate you," The figure turned and strode from the cell. The
door slammed shut again. She waited a few minutes and risked a call to
O'Brien. "Yes, Major," O'Brien answered. "Chief, we have a problem."
"You're not kidding!" "What did you tell Vader?" "Name, rank and
service number, what else? Who did you say?" "Uh...never mind," Kira
stopped herself, realizing that they are probably being monitored.
"What are we going to do?" "I have no idea, but our angel of death
friend seemed pretty upset that we couldn't tell him anything."
"Yeah, 'new ways to motivate'?" Kira clenched her teeth at the thought
of what he might have meant.
* * *
"Sir, the scanner field diverters are in place. We are ready to go."
Picard opened a channel to the _Millenium Falcon_, "General Solo, the
diverters should shield your ship from almost any kind of scan. We
will have the emergency explosive bolts on the bay at your command in
case you are discovered. Otherwise, we will open the doors 25 seconds
prior to firing the torpedo." "Very good, Captain Picard. We'll
monitor your transmissions and be ready for whatever happens. Solo
out," Han flipped the the comm switch to 'monitor.' "Leia, Lando are
you all set back there?" Han spoke into the headset. "We're all set,
Han," Lando answered. "What are we looking forward to." "I have a
funny feeling Picard's going to get more than he's bargained for. He
still thinks that he can talk his way out of this. I really don't know
what to expect, just keep your ears open. Luke, Wedge, are you set?"
"Yes, sir," Wedge gave a thumbs up through the window. "All set,
Han," Luke affirmed. "Keep your heads up guys."
* * *
"Mr. Data, set a course for the entrance of the wormhole, full
impulse," Picard leaned back in his chair and gave a glance to Riker.
"Aye, sir," Data set the course solemnly.
* * *
"Sir," Lt. Fulson, "Scanners are picking up a huge disturbance in the
same vicinity that the two TIEs disappeared and we picked up that
small craft. This is a much larger anomaly than anything that we have
detected before." Vader turned his head and strode back. Lt. Fulson's
face tensed up. "There have been other disturbances and I wasn't
notified?" Fulson swallowed hard, "My Lord, I..." he began to choke
and gasp for air. He clutched at his throat. Captain Drekker watched
as his first officer asphyxiated to death. He gulped and looked at
Vader who was obviously fuming. "Your next executive officer will not
let us down again, Captain," Vader admonished walked off of the
bridge. Capt. Drekker straightened his tunic, "Set a course to the
area of the disturbance."
* * *
As the _Enterprise_ emerged from the wormhole, the view screen was
literally filled with the image of the immense Star Destroyer that was
sitting at the entrance. The _Enterprise_ came very close to the bow
of it. "Hard Starboard!" Riker yelled. Data's hands flew over the
helm with lightning speed. The _Enterprise_ pulled to the starboard.
"Full stop, Mr. Data," Captain Picard stood slowly and tugged at his
tunic just taking in the sheer immensity of the Star Destroyer. "Star
Destroyer is a good name," Worf said in admiration. "That it is, Mr.
Worf," Picard acknowledged, coming back to reality, "Let's hope that
it can't live up to its name. Hail them." "Captain, I sense a source
of unthinkable evil," Deanna said shaking her head staring at the
screen. "I'm not surprised from what Cmdr Skywalker tells me," Picard
turned to face the bridge crew. "I am told that this Darth Vader has
extremely powerful psychic powers including telekinesis and
clairvoyance. We must be careful..." he was cut off by the image of
the black cowled Darth Vader on the screen. "This is the Imperial
Star Destroyer _Nosferatu_. You are harboring criminals wanted by the
Empire. You will surrender and prepare to be boarded. We will take the
prisoners..." "What criminals?" Picard cut Vader off, sounding
impetuous and relaxed. Vader's mechanical breathing hastened at being
cut off. "We have seen no such criminals. We are merely searching
after a lost reconnaissance ship. We lost contact with it just over an
hour ago. Have you seen..." Vader cut off Picard this time, his deep
voice noticeably perturbed. "You are lying. They are with you now. You
will turn them over and you too will be taken as criminals of the
Empire to stand trial." Picard's voice was calm, but the back of his
neck was red and the veins in his temples were pulsing. "We will do no
such thing. We have no knowledge of your criminals. We shall..."
Suddenly Picard's voice faltered. He grasped his throat. Vader was
silent except for the relentless rising and falling of his mechanized
breathing. Picard's face was red and he fell to his knees. Riker and
Deanna were at his side. Deanna was trying with all of her empathic
abilities to shield the Captain. "Cut transmission!" Riker shouted.
Worf cut the signal, and Picard's face relaxed. He was no longer
choking, but he was dazed. "Cmdr," Data turned in his seat, "We are
apparently caught in a tractor beam of some sort. We are being pulled
toward the bay on the bottom of the ship."
* * *
"It sounds like they've got us," Han said staring out the front of the
cockpit. "Couldn't we just blast out of here?" Leia asked knowing the
answer. "We'd just get pulled in too, and we would blow Captain
Picard's bluff prematurely," Han said, his brow furrowed in thought.
"You think he has something?" Leia queried. "It seems like Vader has
already called the bluff." "Maybe, but I think the Imperials may not
trust Vader's intuition as much as he'd like us to believe." Han
risked a communication link to the X-wings, hoping the diverters would
screen out any communications inside the field. "Luke. Have you got
anything, kid?" "Vader is certain that we're on board, but the rest
of the ship doesn't really seem to care. I imagine, they're still a
bit shaken from the trip, and are more concerned with getting home."
"Let's hope so, kid. Solo out." The entryway sensor sounded and Han
flipped a switch. "Who is it?" he asked, half-mockingly. "Cmdrs Data
and LaForge, General. We have a problem." "I'll say. Come on in,
kid."
* * *
Han, Lando, Data, Geordie and Picard were in conference room on the
bridge of the _Enterprise_. "We can probably destroy the tractor
emitter by beaming a photon torpedo on timer into it or near it, but
what happens then?" Picard asked for ideas. "Your transporter systems
will work through the tractor beam?" Han asked, his face lighting up
with a whole new realm of possibilities. "There's a lot of
electromagnetic interference, but we believe it may be possible to
beam inorganic matter through it with no trouble, but humans would be
too risky," Data answered. "How about once the tractor was down?
Could you beam people onto the ship?" Lando asked hopefully. "Yes,"
Data replied. "However, we wouldn't have much time before we would
have to raise shields again. No degree of accuracy could be
guaranteed." "As long as we didn't get beamed onto the main bridge,
or a reactor core, we should be okay." "We can minimize the odds of
transporting into and area of high traffic or any sort of dangerous
area," Data added. "Sir," Riker's voice interrupted. "We can only
hold out for another ten minutes tops." "Yes Number One," Picard
tapped his commbadge. "I think we've got something." "We can get an
away team onto the Star Destroyer, but we'll only have a short time to
find Kira and O'Brien, that is if they are still alive," Picard
explained. "The brigs on Star Destroyers are pretty small, it
shouldn't take long to find them. I trained on these ships during my
academy days," Han announced to most everyone's surprise. "Long
story," He said, looking around at everyone's surprised looks.
"Alright then," Picard stood. "General, will you accompany the away
team?" "Sure, Captain," Han answered standing as well. "Good," The
group left the conference room and Picard spoke again, "Mr. Data,
Worf, accompany the General on the away team. Draw phasers and report
to transporter room three." "I'll return to the _Falcon_ and see what
happens," Lando said looking at Han. Worf, Data, Han and Lando got
into the turbolift. They gave it the orders and they stood in tense
silence. Both Generals knew the odds of what they were going up
against. Lando and company had just rescued Han from the clutches of
Jabba the Hutt which was no picnic, but trying to break the fourth
most wanted Imperial traitor out of an Imperial stockade would make
Tatooine seem like hopscotch. Han knew that they were up against a
task of epic proportions, but what the Hell, when weren't they. The
turbo lift stopped at the main hangar bay. "Look, we go in we come
out. It's as simple as that," Han said reassuring himself more than
Lando. "Piece of cake. Besides, it'll take a lot more than an Imperial
Star Destroyer, 14,000 crew and an insane Dark Lord to stop me from
coming back for the _Falcon_." Lando nodded and smiled. "Will you get
going!" He stepped out and the door closed behind him. He glanced
back, "Pirate," He whispered under his breath and strode off toward
the _Falcon_. Inside, Chewie and Leia were in the cockpit waiting.
"Well?" Leia asked. "Han went with the away team onto the Star
Destroyer to help rescue their people." A dark shadow of dread
crossed Leia's face. Chewbacca growled a negative. "It's the least we
could do. If it weren't for them, we'd be stuck here forever, and what
would happen with the Alliance?" "Brave to the end," Leia said to
herself. "What do we do?" "We sit under this shield and listen until
something bad happens or Han gets back. They are working on freeing
the ship from the tractor right now."
* * *
"These communicators have been equipped with amplifiers to compensate
for any shielding," the transporter chief handed everyone one. "Here
are two extra for O'Brien and Kira. I imagine that they took their
communicators." They all affixed their communicators. Data and Worf
holstered their phasers and placed small palm phasers in hidden
pockets in their trousers. Han undid the release on his blaster
holster and held it ready. They stepped onto the transporter pads.
"Stand by," the chief said. Geordie's voice came over the comm
system, "Torpedo detonation in three, two, one." The shipped surged
and Han felt the mildly disturbing tingling in his body and the
_Enterprise_ transporter room faded and revealed an empty corridor on
the _Nosferatu_. They took defensive positions scanning the area.
"Lead the way, General," Worf growled, his warrior senses roused and a
hideous Klingon grin on his face. "You two are going to stick out
like a sore thumb around here," Han said looking at the pallid android
and the bizarre looking Klingon. Just then he shut up and went flat to
the wall. The others did the same. "This might be our lucky day," Han
said sarcastically. His face fell as he saw the Imperial officer
coming around the corner, but it brightened again as he saw the two
stormtroopers behind him. He gestured to the others. It was swift and
clean. They dragged the bodies into an empty storage room. Han
expertly deprived the former officer of his uniform and put it on,
cringing at the stiff feel of it. Data and Worf put the stormtrooper
armor on with little difficulty. Han tossed Worf and Data the
stormtrooper blasters, and Worf smiled his horrifying grin again. They
put on their helmets. "Are you sure this will work?" Worf asked over
the mike in the stifling helmet. "Trust me," Han replied and they
left.
* * *
"Sir, the tractor beam is down," Geordie informed Picard from Ops.
"Good get some distance between us," Picard ordered standing and
looking in awe at the ship. "Bearing 180 mark 6." "Full impulse,
engage." The _Enterprise_ backed quickly away from the Star
Destroyer. The bridge crew was in awe at the sheer size of the beast.
It was at least as large as any of the Borg ships they'd come in
contact with. "She seems pretty slow to respond sir," Geordie said.
"They are just now channeling power to their weapons systems. "Raise
shields," Riker said. "Shields up." "Hail them," Picard ordered
"Sir, do you think that's wise? Remember what happened last time?"
Deanna cautioned. "Luke Skywalker says that Vader must have visual
contact with a person to do that." "Good point, counselor. Audio
only." The deep menacing voice boomed over the speakers accompanied
with the eerie breathing. "Your efforts to escape are futile.
Surrender your vessel and prepare to turn over the traitors you are
harboring." Picard's voice shot out like a bullet, "We are holding no
one. Your actions constitute an act of war. You will return the
members of our reconnaissance team and you will return to where you
came from or risk destruction. Is that clear," He glanced at Troi. She
shook her head. Vader's answer came in the form of turbolaser blasts
into the shields. "Damage report," Riker barked. "Shields holding."
"Ready phasers and photon torpedoes," Riker ordered. "Geordie, can you
guess where to target that might do some damage?" "I can try sir, if
they have any decent shielding, they should be pretty safe, I can find
some good spots to work on though." "Fire at will, let them know
we're not defenseless." Phasers lanced out from the _Enterprise_ and
photon torpedoes knocked at the turbo laser batteries and the main
docking bay. The _Nosferatu_ continued its assault on the
_Enterprise_ as well.
* * *
"It sounds like Vader didn't much like Captain Picard's ultimatum,"
Leia stated the painfully obvious. "Could this be the something bad
that's happening?" Lando brow was furrowed in concentration. "Maybe,
but we're supposed to wait for the bridge to say something..." He was
cut off as the direct line comlink bleeped. "It appears General that
they didn't believe us," Picard's voice crackled through the sensor
deflection field. "I think you might be right Captain," Lando
replied. "We could probably give them something more to think about."
"I think you may be right," Picard paused. "On my mark, we'll blow the
main shuttlebay doors and you should have a direct line to their
bridge." "We'll come out in a ball of fire, give us a few seconds to
get systems on line. Calrissian out. Chewie, Leia get in the Quads,
fire them up. We're going to talk to Vader." He clicked on the
comlink. " Luke, Wedge, get ready, we're blasting out of here, let's
focus targets on the shield generators. We'll be at the bridge when
the doors blow." "Copy, General," Wedge replied. "Got it, Lando. May
the Force be with you." "You too, kid. We're all set _Enterprise_."
* * *
"Copy, _Millenium Falcon_, stand by." Picard sat down in his chair.
"Move to the rear of the ship and set a course for just above them.
Stay there for a minute and give me a split second burst of high
warp," Picard ordered the helm. Riker smiled broadly at the Captain,
who shrugged in return. "Mr. LaForge, the instant we come out of
warp, blow the main shuttle bay doors." "Aye, sir."
* * *
The _Enterprise_ nonchalantly moved to the rear of the _Nosferatu_ and
was suddenly in two place at once. The main shuttlebay of the upper
_Enterprise_ erupted in a cloud of debris and laser bolts as the
_Millenium Falcon_ and the two X-wings shot out and engaged the
_Nosferatu_ at point blank. The _Nosferatu_ was slow to notice, but
soon the all-too-familiar green turbolasers spat out at the new series
of foes.
* * *
As Han, Data and Worf made their way down the corridors, suddenly the
air was filled with klaxons and flashing red lights. The corridors
were soon flooded with troopers, officers and pilots. running to
battlestations. The three blended right in and made their way to the
brig. Han got a peek inside as a guard left. It was guarded
relatively sparsely, Only two officers and two guards in the cell bay.
Kira and O'Brien apparently weren't very high security prisoners,
which relieved Han as he remembered the fiasco with Leia on the Death
Star. He ducked back to Data and Worf, "There are four of them. This
is going to have to be quick." "Agreed, General." Data acknowledged.
Worf nodded in his helmet as well. "We'll wait until we get inside
and the door closes behind us." They headed for the door. It slid
open and they walked in. One of the officers looked over his shoulder.
"Who are you?" he asked straightening up. The other officer turned and
the two stormtroopers moved into the control area. Han pointed down
the cell bay, "Hey! Get back in your cell." All eyes turned and the
three of them opened fire. Worf tore off his helmet and yelled a
ferocious Klingon battle yell, and polished off the last, very
startled officer. "You and Chewie would get along great," Han
muttered under his breath looking over the computer readouts
"Nineteen-four-six and eight." Worf and Data rushed down the bay and
opened the doors. Kira looked at Data in his stormtrooper outfit as
the door opened and stiffened, until Data's he removed his helmet. "I
am Lt. Cmdr Data from the U.S.S. _Enterprise_. I am here to rescue
you." Kira heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God!" she stood and
followed Data, Worf and O'Brien back to the control room.
* * *
"Luke!" Wedge snapped into his mike. We've got company at 7 o'clock."
"I see them!" Luke replied. "I've got six. You?" "Yeah! That's about
right. I'll get the three on the left." "I'm on right!" The two
X-wings banked apart and split the TIE Interceptor pack apart. Luke
destroyed two of his, but the third made a run for it. Chewbacca
picked it off as it crossed the path of the _Falcon_. Wedge picked off
two also, but the third got behind him. "Luke!" "I see him Wedge,
I'll be right there. Break hard right!" Wedge reached for the
controls, but his arm cramped up. "What the..." he tried to move, but
couldn't make his arm do what it needed to do. Suddenly his mind was
twisted around itself. "Wedge! He's firing!" Luke screamed into the
mike. The TIE fired and set Wedge's tail ablaze. "Eject!" Wedge,
shocked by the explosion, reflexively hit his eject just as the ship
exploded around him. He was knocked unconscious. Luke watched as the
TIE slowed and picked up the ejection compartment with a tow cable and
fled back to the _Nosferatu_. "General, they've captured Wedge." "Are
you sure he's still alive?" Lando asked without thinking. "Yeah,"
Luke answered, "He's unconscious though." "I don't think there's
anything we can do right now," Lando said, hating it. Luke swallowed,
"I know." He joined Lando's assault on the _Nosferatu_.
* * *
"We can't get a positive lock. There's too much shielding and
structure in the way," Geordie said staring at the monitor trying to
find a way around it. "We will attempt to make our way to another
location. Security has, however been alerted to our presence here,"
Data acknowledged over the speaker. "We'll keep trying Data, LaForge
out." "Move the ship to assist the _Millenium Falcon_'s efforts on
the shield generators," Picard ordered. "It appears that they are
breaking through." "Aye, sir," Ro keyed in the new course. The
_Enterprise_ moved to a position above the _Nosferatu_ and began
firing.
* * *
"Captain," Lt. Gerrad said, "They are starting to wear through the
shields. Shall I increase shield strength?" "No, that would require
lowering their strength elsewhere, with the maneuverability of the
other ship, we can't risk that. Launch another wing of fighters. The
last ones did some good..." Vader had moved behind him and
interrupted him now. "No, it was not your pilot, I manipulated the
rebel's mind and let your fighter have a clean shot." Drekker turned
to face Vader. "I see my lord, perhaps it could be done again?" "No
the last pilot is Luke Skywalker and he is strong with the Force. You
will have to find another way of dealing with him. Don't let him
escape, Captain," with that, he turned and left the bridge. "Launch
two more wings of fighters. Let them deal with that," Captain Drekker
looked at the monitor. "Captain, the prisoners have escaped. Security
is closing in on them, but they are somewhat elusive." "How did they
escape?" Drekker's brow furrowed. "Unknown, sir. The new prisoner has
just been brought aboard. He is on his way to sickbay, he is
unconscious." "Double the security." "Yes, sir."
* * *
"The tractor projector is...was over there," Han pointed seeing the
gaping hole in the side of the main docking bay. "The damage to
shields and structure there should be severe enough that the
_Enterprise_ can get a lock to transport us back," Data concurred.
"Getting there is going to be tricky." "Where does this panel lead?"
"Service ducts, they criss-cross the ship," Han said looking at the
door near the floor. "I thought about it. They're too tough to open
and we can't risk blasting it open with all of these troops around."
"We do not need to blast it," Data said crouching down in front of it.
He moved his fingers into the slight crack and pulled the doors apart
with ease. Han looked on in amazement, a grin crossing his face.
"Nice." The five of them crawled into the duct way and began
crawling. Data closed the high pressure doors behind them.
* * *
"I see them," Leia called as she blasted the remaining two TIEs to
pieces. "Lando, do you have a reading on that shield?" she asked into
her headset. "It's almost down," He answered back, Pulling hard right
and firing onto the generators some more just as two more of the
_Enterprise_'s photon torpedoes exploded on them, finally knocking
them out. "It's down!" he yelled and looped the _Falcon_ up and back
down firing a volley of concussion missiles and the bridge.
* * *
"We have a positive lock," Geordie's voice came over Data's commbadge.
"Prepare five for transpor..." "Hold it," Han cut him off. He was
looking out into the hangar bay. They were pulling something out of
some sort of pod. Han saw the orange suit and new what it was, or who
it was. "It's Wedge," He muttered under his breath. He turned to the
others. "They've got Wedge. I've got to get him. You guys go ahead.
I'll be alright." He turned and left before anyone could argue. "Four
to transport," Data spoke again. They four dematerialized and
vanished. Just as they did so, four stormtroopers took up guard
position around Wedge's repulsor-bed. They began to move it. Han
turned to ready an ambush when he heard a familiar hum. He looked down
and on the floor was a hypo and PADD with a commbadge attached. He
picked it up. "This is a hypospray to revive Cmdr Antilles. M-QGood
luck, _Enterprise_." Han smiled stuck the hypo in his pocket, and
headed off,trying to decide if his luck would hold out.
* * *
"He had to go after the other fighter pilot," Worf explained as Bev
sealed his wound. "He is loyal isn't he? You're lucky you had this
armor. Those blasters are nasty." "He is very courageous and is a
cunning warrior," Worf said with much respect. "He will succeed." "I
concur," Data added, removing his stormtrooper Gauntlets. "He seems to
have an incredible amount of what most call luck." Bev laughed and
rolled Worf's sleeve down. "You're all set." Her commbadge bleeped and
she tapped it. "Is everything alright down there?" Picard's voice
asked. "General Solo stayed behind to attempt to rescue their downed
pilot their downed pilot," she responded. "Understood, Picard out."
Bev moved to the two biobeds where Kira and O'Brien were lying. She
looked at her tricorder and at both patients. "You'll both be fine.
There was no permanent damage, it will take a few days for your
neuro-transmitter activity to return to normal. Thank heavens their
mind-sifter must have been on a low setting, it showed signs of being
able to do serious damage."
* * *
"This may be your only chance, General," Picard said. "I know," Lando
said over the speaker, "I just hate leaving Han on that ship." "I
understand. The Star Destroyer will probably follow you, perhaps in
your own galaxy you can continue the fight, but according to our best
calculations, the hyperwormhole won't last much longer. We will
transmit the coordinates we have extrapolated from your computer that
will be safest for your jump. Make the jump ten seconds after the
torpedo jumps. The explosion and shock wave should have dissipated by
then." "Understood, _Falcon_ out." "Mr. LaForge," Picard turned to
Ops. "Is our hypertorpedo ready?" "Yes, sir." "Fire at will."
* * *
"I know, I don't like it either, but he'll be okay. He's always okay.
He's the luckiest son-of-a-gun I know." Leia heaved a sigh, darkness
on her face. "I know," she said not really believing it. The torpedo
shot from the _Enterprise_ and disappeared into hyperspace. Lando
looked at Chewbacca who was sulking. Three-two-one. Lando pulled the
levers and the stars went to starlines, Chewbacca roared.
* * *
Han stuck his head out of the ramp of the shuttle. Just about there.
He started down the ramp. "Where are you taking this prisoner?" he
barked trying to sound authoritarian. "Sickbay," one of the officers
replied. "No, he needs to be questioned! Why isn't he restrained?" he
grabbed Wedge's collar with one hand and put the hypo in his arm.
Wedge shook his head and blinked his eyes open. "Look out!" Han spun
around punching out the officer and pulling Wedge off the bed, and
under the ramp of the shuttle, dropping a sonic grenade as he did so.
The grenade knocked all of the guards out, but alerted everyone in the
hangar. Han dragged the sluggish Wedge up the ramp into the shuttle
and slapped the bulkhead control and ramp retract.
* * *
"Sir, we have the coordinates that the ship jumped to. Shall I set
course?" "Yes, Lt.," Drekker nodded, but was watching a report of a
disturbance in the Main Hangar bay. "Set the pursuit course. I'll
inform Lord Vader." "Inform me of what," Vader's voice boomed over
his shoulder as it did all too often. For someone with that loud of
breathing, Drekker thought, You'd think I'd notice him behind me. "The
rebels have jumped into hyperspace, but we have the coordinates that
they jumped to. This may be a chance to get back to our own galaxy,
and finally catch them." Vader looked out of the window, and then at
the report of a shuttle being stolen coming up on the monitor. He
nodded. "Yes, make the jump to hyperspace now."
* * *
"Sir there is a tremendous power buildup in the _Nosferatu_," Geordie
commented just as it disappeared with a flicker of pseudo-motion. "It
appears that they have made the jump to hyperspace, They must have
decoded the coordinates we sent to the _Falcon_." "Probably, I hope
that everything will be okay for them," Riker added. "Wait a minute,
what's this?" Geordie looked at the scanners. "It's a ship." "Sir, we
are being hailed," Worf said. "On screen," Picard answered. Han's
image appeared on the screen. he was still wearing the Imperial
uniform, but it was opened and torn. "Good afternoon, Captain. Where
did everybody go?" "General!" Picard stood. "Good to see that you got
away. We'll send you the jump coordinates." Geordie began to send the
coordinates. "Good. Thanks for all of your help, I'll send you all
medals when I get back. Got the coordinates. Wedge! Punch these in and
get ready to go. Again, I can't thank you enough. Tydirium out..." Han
began to turn, but Picard interrupted. "Uh...General Solo, May the
Force be with you," Picard said with a smile. Han grinned, "Thanks,
I'll tell him! Solo out." Han's image was replaced by the image of
the Imperial shuttle, and then it too was gone. Picard heaved a sigh
and tugged at his tunic. "Set course for the wormhole." "Course set."
"Engage."
Finis.
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