Lost in the Stars

Chapter 1

Slaved to the Bird

"Wedge, you've got a tie on your tail!"

"I can't shake him, Luke!"

"On my way."

Luke dodged his own attack and dipped to get in a better position to help his friend, but his own attacker was persistent. Luke performed an overhead arc to escape being singed by a torpedo.

"I can't hold him off much longer!" Wedge shouted.

"Hang on, Wedge!"

Luke cringed as an explosion filled his viewport.

"Wedge!"

The debris cleared and Wedge's x-wing was still flying. Luke breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. He was still in a tie fighter's sight.

"Wedge? You still there? I could use a little help here," Luke exclaimed.

A familiar voice answered his request. "First Wedge, now Luke… What would you Rogues do without me?" He fired at the tie chasing Luke.

"Thanks, Han. I guess I owe you another one."

"Hey, I stopped counting after Jabba's sail barge blew up."

The debris cleared and Luke's eyes widened.

"Ah, Han? Don't look now, but I think we're in trouble."

"You're cutting it too close, major!" John Robinson stated between gritted teeth.

Despite his fears, the Jupiter 2 held it's own as it skimmed past a black hole, but the pursuing alien ships were still riding their bumper.

"Damn! They're good." Major West mumbled as he fought the pull of the black hole. Their closest pursuer disappeared as it was sucked into oblivion, but a blast from the remaining enemy crippled their rear shield. The ships maneuvered into position to nudge the Jupiter back towards the black hole.

"We're not gonna make it, professor. We need to jump!" Don commanded.

"No! We have the star maps to get us to Alpha Prime. If we jump, we're lost again!" John responded.

"Better lost than dead! Now toss me that key… and that's an order!" The major was done 'being nice'. This was a battle and he was in charge.

John glanced at his wife, who nodded her assent. Within moments they were slinging through hyperspace to emerge… God knew where…

Han dispensed of Luke's attacker and turned to see a star destroyer and entire squadron of tie fighters at their backs. He thought that the battle was just about finished and now it was starting all over again.

"Where in Hoth did they come from?" Han muttered to Chewie as they surveyed the battle space. "All right men, target practice is over. Green group, clean up what's left of the first wave. Red and Gold, follow me!"

The Falcon faced the star destroyer and waited. Red and gold groups fanned out behind her. Han waited for the imperials to make their move. The imperial flanks broke off and moved to overrun the x and y-wings. A streak of light suddenly came from nowhere and its residual smoke filled the space between the two forces.

"Engage!" Han exclaimed. The Falcon took on several ties as it followed the path of the intruder.

The Jupiter screeched to a halt and found itself surrounded by imperial forces on the left and rebel forces on the right.

"Where the hell are we?" John shouted.

"Right in the middle of a battle," Don replied, "with no war heads and no rear shields."

He surveyed the scene and saw what looked like a 'clean-up' operation in front of them; little danger from that sector. He turned the ship around and cursed… loudly. A full-fledged battle waged around them.

"We've got to get out of here, major," John stated.

"No kiddin', professor. Thanks for the advice. If you haven't noticed, we're surrounded. Where exactly would you like us to go?"

"Anywhere but here!"

Don swerved to the left, then to the right to avoid hits by both forces. The Jupiter was a sitting duck as both sides assumed that it was aligned with the enemy.

"Can't we use the hyperdrive again?" Will asked.

"No. It needs to be reset and that'll take time," Don replied.

"What are we going to do?" Penny begged.

"Choose a side and hope it's the right one," Don answered.

Threading his way through the mass of war ships took longer than expected as he kept his eye on the uninvited ship. His gunners, volunteers from his Endor strike team, made good use of the time by knocking out several ties.

"I've never seen a ship like that before. Chewie? Has it fired any weapons yet?" Han asked.

["No. They're only goal appears to be evasion,"] Chewie replied.

"Something tells me they're not in league with the imperials." Han made a decision. "Rogue squadron! Do not fire on the unidentified ship. Repeat. Do not fire on that ship."

The star destroyer focused its sites on the Falcon and fired several rounds in her direction. Han easily dodged the attack.

"All these ships for the guy to fire at, and he chooses us. By the way, which warlord are we fighting?"

["Your guess is as good as mine."]

"Choose a side? Major, I strongly suggest that you look for an escape vector and use it," Smith suggested.

Don swerved and did an overhead loop, more to upset Smith's stomach than anything else. "No way, Smitty. We're in a strange place and they've got information. Oh, uh, which side would you choose?"

"The one with the largest ship, of course."

"Thank you. You just confirmed my decision. See that saucer-shaped ship with the dish on top and rear engines? That's no typical warship. He's my man."

The sound of three throats clearing echoed behind him.

"Or woman," he corrected.

Three ties were hit by friendly fire as Han corkscrewed through the mess of vehicles. He sped closer to the unidentified ship, and hailed its occupants.

"Unidentified ship, this is General Han Solo on the Millenium Falcon. State your origin." Han had the ship in his sights, but he hoped that he wouldn't need to use his weapons against the possibly unarmed vehicle.

A strong male voice answered his call. "Jupiter 2 of the planet, Earth. Major Don West at your service."

The star destroyer continued its pursuit of the Falcon and fired again, weakening the Falcon's deflector shields. The ship lurched once, then twice as if a lasso had been thrown around it.

["They've got us in a tractor beam,"] Chewie observed.

"Shavit! Full power reverse!" Han exclaimed.

Don had a front row view of the star destroyer and the Falcon. He wasn't about to let the bird be eaten alive by the larger ship.

"That ship's caught in some kind of force. John, load up the missiles."

"Have you forgotten that we have no war heads?" John asked.

"Really?" Don was still amazed at how clueless his passengers could be, with the exception of Smith of course. "Just load them up and fire on my mark."

Don lined the ship up and John fired the weapons. The light of the explosion reflected off an invisible beam that was pulling the Falcon into the larger vessel. He had his target.

"Everybody hold onto your stomachs. This is gonna be rough!" Don exclaimed. "Coming to your rescue, Falcon. Be prepared to move."

Don spiraled the Jupiter straight into the tractor beam, like a drill through a piece of wood. Han dropped the Falcon beyond the reach of the star destroyer, but the Jupiter picked up three ties after its daring move. Major West pulled the Jupiter out of its spin, curved downward and then straight up through the three ties, as if it was tying a bow. Two of the ties collided and Luke made short work of the third one.

Han surveyed the damage of the battle and determined that the skirmish was finished. The rebels had fared well in the individual dogfights, but they weren't about to defeat that star destroyer, not without some heavy firepower.

"Rogue squadron! We're done for today. Form up and meet back at the base," Han ordered. "Jupiter 2, you're invited to join us, but I'll have to slave you to my ship for the trip."

"No offense, but I don't like the sound of that, General," Don declared.

Han chuckled. Had he found a long lost brother? "Can't say I blame you, Major, but I don't think a tow cable would survive the trip through hyperspace. Slaving is the only way to go if you want to stay with us."

Silence.

"I need a decision, Major. It's me or you're dinner for that star destroyer."

"Slave away, General."