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They would allow him to strike back. He would take them all down, all his enemies, all the ones responsible for stranding him here in this brutal no-man's-land.

He didn't have a plan, not yet. But he knew where his revenge would begin. He would start with the one who had started it all, the man who had been the beginning of Soresh's end.

Luke Skywalker.

CHAPTER TWO

"Did you say something?" Luke whispered.

"What part of quiet don't you understand?" Han Solo hissed.

"I thought I heard my name," Luke said.

"Well, maybe you should think a little more quietly," Han snarled.

Chewbacca growled at them.

Luke shut his mouth. When a Wookiee carrying a giant bowcaster shushes you, you take his advice. Especially when he's the only thing standing between you and a roomful of soldiers with blasters.

Luke sighed. Back on Yavin 4, this had sounded like such an easy mission. Go to the Royal Palace of Nyemari, grab the duchess's access codes for the Nyemari Imperial Military Installation, get out. He didn't understand how it had all gone so wrong so fast.

Much less how he and Han had ended up crammed into a shoe closet, with only a thin curtain of Dramassian shimmersilk separating them from the duchess's guards. A thin curtain and, of course, Chewbacca, who was posing as a guard himself. Apparently, to most Nyemarians, all Wookiees looked alike.

As usual, Han had been determined to blast his way out of trouble, but Luke and Leia had convinced him to wait. Their orders were to infiltrate sight unseen. And Leia had insisted they follow orders. Of course, that was before Leia set off to explore the west wing of the palace while Han and Luke took the north and south. She should have rendezvoused with them an hour before, but there was no sign of her. Luke tried not to worry. Leia could take care of herself. Still…

"Do you think we should go find her?" Luke whispered.

Han smiled crookedly. "If I know the princess—"

There was a deafening crash and explosion of plaster as a sleek black airspeeder barreled straight through the wall. The room erupted in chaos as guards fled from the oncoming speeder. Laserfire from its forward cannons peppered the room, blasting holes in antique wallpaper, the clari-crystalline vases, and several dozen shoe boxes.

"—she'll find us," Han finished, as he burst out of the shoe closet, blaster blazing.

"What are you waiting for?" Leia cried, urging them into the speeder. White plaster dust coated her braided brown hair.

Luke, Han, and Chewbacca piled in. A phalanx of guards poured into the room.

Laserbolts screamed through the air.

"We have to get out of here!" Luke shouted over the noise of battle. He whirled around to send a stream of laserfire at their pursuers. The speeder lifted off the ground.

"Thanks for the brilliant idea!" Leia aimed the speeder straight for the giant transparisteel window. "Duck!"

Luke cradled his head and braced for impact. A shower of transparisteel rained down on them as they hurtled into open air. Two stories below, a fleet of Royal speeder bikes lifted off the ground and gave chase. Leia increased thrust and they shot forward at 650

km/hr.

"I thought you wanted us to do this quietly," Han shouted over the engine roar.

"Change of plans." Leia jerked the stolen speeder hard to the right, tipping so precariously they nearly toppled out of the vehicle. She wove skillfully through the maze of skyscrapers, blasting through buildings when she couldn't go around them. The Royal guards were determined, but they couldn't match Leia's piloting skills. "You complaining?"

"Not today," Han teased.

"Feel free to let yourself out," Leia snapped.

Han stretched out in the seat, hands behind his head. "I'm fine right where I am, Your Worship. You can rescue me any day of the week." He coughed loudly, adding under his breath, "Especially when it's your fault we needed rescuing in the first place."

" Excuse me?" Leia said.

"I said—"

Chewbacca cut Han off with a loud roar. Luke gave the Wookiee a friendly