A Smuggler's Tale Copyright 1991 by Ting-Yu Hsu All rights reserved. This work may be free

A Smuggler's Tale ----------------- Copyright 1991 by Ting-Yu Hsu All rights reserved. This work may be freely archived in un- modified form as long as this copyright notice remains intact. It may not be redistributed in any form except by the author's expressed permission. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits and it will come through in safety. Sun Tzu, _The_Art_of_War_ Chapter 1: Down and Out Han Solo dejectedly dropped his head down between his hands. Lost, he thought, I can't believe that I'm lost. He was supposed to have dropped out of hyperspace near Cloud City. It was sup- posed to be a nice little vacation, and the past few months after the destruction of the Emperor, Vadar, and that new Death Star, it was a vacation he well deserved. Although being a General gave him a lot of luxuries, there just was something about a solid card table and a cutthroat game of sabacc that could bring meaning back into life. Anyway, it was about time for Lando to fix him up that that new Full-Spectrum Transceiver dish. This makeshift Alliance dish just wasn't quite as good as the old black market Imperial ones. Of course, all that seemed pretty far away now. It seemed the FST wasn't the only thing on this hunk of metal that needed re- placing. It seemed that the navigational computer shorted out also. Actually it was working fine until they made the jump. Then it shorted out. It didn't take too long after that to real- ize that they weren't anywhere close to Cloud City. Not too tough to figure that one out when your sensors only show empty space for a thousand light years in every direction. Chewy was right outside the cockpit trying to jury-rig the na- vigation computer, but it looks like that it'll take some time before the repairs are completed. C-3PO's in the lounge hooked up to the tech station. Hopefully that droid will locate our po- sition, but if the main computer doesn't recognize this place, then I'm not sure if C-3PO will have any better luck, thought Han. But then again, at least it kept that droid busy, otherwise that shell head would be up here in the cockpit complaining about something. Han stretched back and gave out a low yawn when the sensors suddenly came to life. The Hyperwave Signal Interceptor to be more specific. It started screaming that a very large object had just exited out of hyperspace less than a thousand kilometers in front of them. That's when Chewbacca burst into the room, obvi- ously responding to the sensor. Han turned and glanced upward at the large wookie and saw an expression that shocked him. Chewbacca had suddenly froze up and his eyes went wide, then, as if in slow motion, Chewy lunged for the shield controls. It was then that Han caught a glimpse of the image floating just outside the viewport of the Millennium Falcon. What he saw made his blood turn cold. For outside his viewport sat an Imperial Class Star Destroyer. Admiral Remus let out a broad smile. The latest talks between he and Commander Rioli had gone exceptionally well. Although Em- peror Palpatine was dead, the majority of the Imperial fleet still remained intact. With this new alliance with Commander Rioli, his small, but growing coalition of Imperial Admirals would now have a safe area in which they could repair and resup- ply themselves away from the prying eyes of rebel spies. It would also serve as a convenient starting point to rebuild the Empire. Yes, thought Admiral Remus, things were going pretty well. "Exiting hyperspace now, Admiral. We should be at jump point alpha," stated Lieutenant Ivani. It took three jumps to make it from know space to their new base of operations. Theoretically it was possible to make it in one jump, but the nav computers didn't really know enough about this part of the universe to calculate all of the proper vari- ables. Lieutenant Ivani looked at his gravfield sensor. There seemed to be something there. He then proceeded to confirm his findings with the other sensors. Just as he expected. It was a small freighter. "Admiral, there seems to be a small freighter a thousand ki- lometers directly ahead of us. I'll put a visual on viewscreen two." Remus turned his head to the right to examine the viewscreen. The realization of what he saw hit him so hard that he must have stood there motionless for many seconds, although it seemed like hours. That wasn't just any freighter, it was the Millennium Falcon. Within it contained General Han Solo, a leader of the Rebellion. How did that smuggler find us, Remus thought. Are the rebels on to me? Whatever the answer was, the decision was clear. Han Solo had to be destroyed. If that rebel made it back to his headquarters, all the work that he had accomplished in the few months since the death of Emperor Palpatine would be in naught. "Obliterate him!" shouted Remus. Han felt his ship rock from the impact of several turbolasers bearing down on his small freighter. How do I get myself into these things, he thought. "Activate the jammers, Chewy! We're going in." Han yawed the frighter and then spun upwards in order to avoid the incoming fire. The shields were holding up and the jammer was now helping them out a bit, so they might just have a chance. Assuming this cockeyed plan works. "Oh no!" shouted C-3PO. The golden droid had rushed to the cockpit from the lounge when the ship started rocking. Now a mo- ment too soon, he thought. Then he realized what Han was doing. "You're not going to pull this stunt again, are you? Do you realize that the odds are 12,560,020 to 1 that it will work a second time? It's just plain suicide," whined C-3PO. "I told you to never give me the odds, 3PO!" With that, Han turned the Falcon sharply to port, barreling the droid into the walls. Throwing 3PO around was satisfying. Unfortunately he couldn't saver the moment very long. As more and more turbo- lasers bore down on him, he had to concentrate harder on flying. He was definitely beginning to wonder if this was going to work. "I don't want to die," continued 3PO, "What will R2 do without me? I don't want to float around in space as a piece of lifeless metal. I don't deserve something like this. I knew I shouldn't have listened to R2, I should have insisted on accompanying Mas- ter Luke. If only...." Han took another turn upwards causing 3PO to fall backwards out of the cockpit. Even though his maneuver was done to dodge an ion cannon burst, he couldn't have found a better way of get- ting 3PO out of the cockpit. As they drew closer and closer to the Star Destroyer, Chewy informed him that the shields were just about gone. It was tak- ing all of Chewbacca's expertise to even the shields to function at all. It didn't matter now though, thought Han, in a few more seconds the moment of truth would arrive. During the next few seconds, time seemed to stand still for the occupants of the Falcon. Han punched the accelerator and pulled the Falcon upwards and to the port. A great spark of ions rose out of nowhere as the shields of the Star Destroyer clashed with the shields of the small freighter. The huge ion burst seemed to cause all of the onboard systems to spark up and com- plain. Simultaneously, the shields fried and the sensors went black. You could even feel large sections of the freighter's ar- mor being stripped off due to the collision and the laser fire. That's when Han hit the hyperspace drives. Without the nav com- puter, they might just be jumping right into a planetoid or even a sun, but it really didn't matter now. Some hope of survival, no matter how slim, was better than imminent destruction by the Imperial Star Destroyer. Han closed his eyes and prayed. If there was ever a time that Han Solo put faith in the Force, it was now. Admiral Remus looked around solemnly from his command chair. I can't believe what just transpired, he thought. How the hell can such a small freighter carry capital warship grade shields? It's just unheard of. Oh, there were stories about such a thing existing on the Millennium Falcon, but he always dismissed these things as rumors. Until now. That damn Han Solo, a smuggler turned Alliance General of all things. He couldn't have chosen a more inappropriate time to show up. His gunners told him that they had got off a few clean hits near the end there, but as an Admiral, he couldn't trust hearsay. No, all he really knew was that the Falcon made a clean hyperspace jump. He would have to assume that the ship got away unscathed. He really had to admire that man. He flew that light freighter straight at them, right through heavy defensive fire. He even bounced his ship right off the shields just as if the shields were a planetary atmosphere right before hyperspace. It really screwed up the sensor personnel. They've been working for the last hour trying to decipher the ships whereabouts from all the static that caused. By now, Solo's headed back toward the Alliance's headquarters. If the Alliance is quick about it, they could get a formatable force ready in a matter of days. His plans would now have to be stepped up or put on hold to chase down that damn freighter. Or both. Remus got up from his chair and started walking towards the sensor personnel. He had been placid too long. It was time to get something done. "Lieutenant!" Lieutenant Ivani quickly turned around from his HSI station and snapped to attention. "Yes sir, Admiral Remus, sir!" he re- plied. "Lieutenant, it has been over an hour since our engagement with the light freighter. I expect a report within the next minute of your findings." He had expect this moment for the past half hour, and he had dreaded it. The intense jammer the Falcon carried and the static discharge when the freighter hit the shields all served to drast- ically confuse the sensors. He had one lead though, small as it was, he'd have to report it much early that he cared. "I am still in the process of confirming this, sir, but I would conjecture that the freighter would be in the Phessarian star system." "How sure are you Lieutenant?" "The sensor readings were all a bit jumbled, but none of them seem to conflict with that finding, sir. I would like more time to confirm it, but I'm pretty sure that its the Phessarian star system." Hum, though Remus, if it was the Phessarian system, it would make things much easier. Hell, he might not even have to alter the plan after all. "Lieutenant, contact Commander Rioli. I want an audience with him in ten minutes." "Yes, sir Admiral." Ivani tried to control the hatred in his voice, but a little of it leaked out. Fortunately the Admiral failed to notice. Admiral Remus was one of the best officers he had ever served under, but he really had to wonder about Remus's judgement lately. He, for one, would never trust that damn Romu- lan commander any farther than he could throw a wookie. -- T. Tim Hsu UUCP ...pur-ee!ajz@mentor.cc.purdue.edu ARPA ajz@mentor.cc.purdue.edu FAX 1 317 494 0566 BITNET xajz@PURCCVM