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Solo raced down to the ship's hold and began to work frantically on repairing the malfunctioning hyperdrive unit. It was all but impossible to carry out the delicate repair work necessary while the Falcon shook with each blast of flak from the fighters.

Han snapped orders at his copilot, who checked the mechanisms as he was commanded. 'Horizontal booster.'

The Wookiee barked. It looked fine to him.

'Alluvial damper.'

Another bark. That part was also in place.

'Chewie, get me the hydrospanners.'

Chewbacca rushed over to the pit with the tools. Han grabbed the spanners, then paused and looked at his faithful Wookiee friend.

'I don't know how we're going to get out of this one,' he confided.

Just then a resounding thump hit the Falcon's side, making the ship pitch and turn radically.

Chewbacca barked anxiously.

Han braced himself at the impact, the hydrospanners flew from his hand. When he managed to regain his balance, he shouted at Chewbacca over the noise, 'That was no laser blast! Something hit us!'

'Han... Han ..." Princess Leia called to him from the cockpit. She was frantic. 'Get up here!'

Like a shot, he lurched out of the hold and raced back to the cockpit with Chewbacca. They were stunned by what they saw through the windows.

'Asteroids!'

Enormous chunks of flying rock hurtled through space as far as they could see. As if those damn Imperial pursuit ships weren't trouble enough!

Han instantly returned to his pilot's seat, once more taking over the Falcon's controls. His copilot settled himself back into his own seat just as a particularly large asteroid sped by the prow of the ship.

Han felt he had to stay as calm as possible; otherwise they might not last more than a few moments. 'Chewie,' he ordered, 'set two-seven-one.'

Leia gasped. She knew what Han's order meant and was stunned by so reckless a plan. 'You're not thinking of heading into the asteroid field?' she asked, hoping she had misunderstood his command.

'Don't worry, they won't follow us through this!' he shouted with glee.

'If I might remind you, sir,' Threepio offered, trying to be a rational influence, 'the possibility of successfully navigating through an asteroid field is approximately two thousand four hundred and sixty-seven to one.'

No one seemed to hear him.

Princess Leia scowled. 'You don't have to do this to impress me,' she said, as the Falcon was pummeled hard by another asteroid.

Han was enjoying himself enormously and chose to ignore her insinuations. 'Hang on, sweetheart,' he laughed, grasping the controls more tightly. 'We're gonna do some flyin'.'

Leia winced and, resigned, buckled herself firmly into her seat.

See Threepio, still muttering calculations, shut down his synthesized human voice when the Wookiee turned and growled at him.

But Han concentrated only on carrying out his plan. He knew it would work; it had to - there was no other choice. Flying more on instinct than on instruments, he steered his ship through the relentless rain of stone. Glancing quickly at his scanner screens, he saw that the TIE fighters and the Avenger had not yet abandoned the chase. It would be an Imperial funeral, he thought, as he maneu vered the Falcon through the asteroid hail.

He looked at another viewscreen and smiled as it showed a collision between an asteroid and a TIE fighter. The explosion registered on the screen with a burst of light. No survivors in that one, Han thought.

The TIE fighter pilots chasing the Falcon were among the best in the Empire. But they couldn't compete with Han Solo. Either they weren't good enough, or they weren't crazy enough. Only a lunatic would have plunged his ship into a suicidal journey through these asteroids. Crazy or not, these pilots had no choice but to follow in hot pursuit. They undoubtedly would be better off perishing in this bombardment of rocks than reporting failure to their dark master.

The greatest of all the Imperial Star Destroyers regally moved out of Hoth's orbit. It was flanked by two other Star Destroyers