Star Wars_ Rebel Force 06_ Uprising - Alex Wheeler [30]
"The fleet is strong, Princess," Ferus assured her. "And Div, Han, Luke…each of them will give everything to defend the Rebellion. All they have."
Leia frowned, her eyes pinned on the viewscreen. It glowed with laserfire and explosions. "That's what I'm afraid of."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"Fire again, Chewie!" Han shouted into the comm. The Wookiee released another concussion missile. It screamed toward the nearest TIE fighter and collided with its cockpit. The Imperial ship exploded, unleashing a flakstorm. Han pulled up hard, straying right into a hail of laserfire.
"Whoa!" he shouted, as laserbolts strafed the hull. Sparks sprayed from the instrument panels and smoke plumed in the cockpit. "When I said fire, that's not what I meant," Han muttered, dropping into a sharp corkscrew to evade the Imperial ships.
A proton torpedo seared past, crashing into the X-wing on his starboard flank.
Fractured and twisted pieces of durasteel and broken wings floated across the viewscreen.
Ships were exploding on all sides of him. Laserfire blotted out the stars. All those weeks on the ground, Han had longed to be back in space again, behind the controls of his ship.
But this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind.
There had been twelve guards surrounding the Falcon—not exactly a challenge for the combined might of Luke, Han, Div, a Firespray, and an angry Wookiee. Han had been all ready to blast his way through, but Luke had stopped him in his tracks. "Let me deal with it," he'd said…and a moment later, the guards laid down their weapons. Han did his best not to look shocked, but Luke saw straight through it. "Jedi hokum," he'd explained with a laugh.
But after that, there was no more time for jokes or hokum. Div launched his Firespray, and Han and Chewbacca set off in the Falcon. Luke jumped into the X-wing he'd arrived with. They plunged into the thick of the battle, adding their firepower to the Rebel attack.
Han took out two more TIE fighters and then spotted Luke's X-wing zig-zagging through the battlefield, three Imperials on his tail.
Han opened a comm link to the X-wing. "Luke, you've got company, six o'clock."
"I see them, but I can't shake them," Luke reported.
"Going in." Han reversed thrusters and swooped toward the TIE fighters chasing Luke. He pummeled them with laserfire, but they swerved out of reach. These guys were good.
Han was better. "On my mark, pull up, hard," Han told Luke.
"Copy that," Luke said, without question.
Han accelerated to full speed, dipping beneath the TIE fighters. "Now!" he shouted, and Luke's X-wing twisted in midair, shifting into a sharp climb. The TIE fighters overshot, and as they tried to compensate, Han picked them off one by one.
"Got 'em!" he crowed, grinning as the cockpit lit up with the glow of fiery wreckage.
"You Imperial flyboys never learn, do—"
"Han!" Luke screamed through the comm link. "Pull up! Pull up, now!"
The Millennium Falcon was careening straight toward a squadron of TIE fighters.
Their laser cannons were blasting at full force. Han yanked hard on the controls, but the ship didn't respond. The viewscreen showed smoke billowing from the port thrusters.
They were going to crash.
Luke didn't stop to think. He pivoted to his port side and swooped down toward the squadron of TIE fighters, strafing them with laserfire. Div's Firespray came in hard and fast from the other direction, spiraling and weaving in sync with Luke's maneuvering, as if they had coordinated the attack. The TIE fighters fanned out to evade the Rebel blasts.
Div and Luke gave chase. The Falcon gave them cover as they zoomed through the maze of ships, firing without stop.
"Thanks for the save, kid." Han's voice came through the comm.
"What happened?" Luke asked. For a moment, he'd been sure the Falcon was going to crash straight into the Imperials.
"Little trouble with the nav system," Han said casually, as if he hadn't just narrowly avoided a fiery collision. "Nothing to worry about."
Luke shook his head and had to laugh. The Falcon didn't look like much