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"Leia!" Luke shouted, waving his arms at the princess. "Get away from him!"

"Great work, kid," Han muttered under his breath. He pulled out his blaster and started running again. This was about to get messy.

Leia backed away from Kiro, who pulled out a blaster of his own, aiming it at the princess. She froze.

"Careful," Kiro said, as Luke, Han, and Chewbacca approached. "I don't want to hurt her."

"Then how 'bout you drop the blaster!" Han shouted.

"Don't upset him," Luke murmured.

"Me?" Han shot back, out of the corner of his mouth. "You're telling me to stay calm, after what you—"

The kid looked more clueless than usual.

"Ah, forget it." Han turned his attention back to Kiro and Leia. She had her hands up, and was glaring at Kiro. Han cocked his blaster, but kept it aimed at the ground.

"You want to protect her?" Kiro asked, sounding almost sorry. "Drop your weapons."

Han caught Leia's eye. She gave him an imperceptible nod. He grinned, his grip tightening on the blaster. I would, but last I heard, Her Highness prefers to protect herself!"

He raised his weapon. Kiro swung around to face Han, firing off a round of laserbolts.

Han ducked the blasts, reluctant to fire back with Leia still in range.

But the princess could take care of herself. Taking advantage of Kiro's distraction, Leia dropped to a crouch. She rolled toward Kiro and knocked his legs out from under him. His blaster clattered to the ground. They lunged for it at the same time.

"Out of the way, Leia!" Han shouted. "I can't get a clear shot."

Leia and Kiro wrestled for the blaster. Kiro's finger brushed the hilt, but Leia grabbed his wrist just in time, twisting it behind his back. He grunted in pain, shrugging her off with surprising strength. She tumbled backward, but managed to kick the blaster out of his reach as she fell. Then she slammed into the ground, hard. Kiro scrabbled forward and snatched the weapon.

"Leia, go!" Han shouted, taking aim. She climbed to her feet and took a few steps, then, collapsed back to the ground, clutching her ankle. Her face twisted in pain.

Han jerked his head at Luke. "Get her out of there." Luke was already on his way.

Kiro wheeled toward her, his blaster raised, but Chewbacca threw himself in the line of fire. The Wookiee barreled toward Kiro. Grunting with effort, Leia forced herself to her feet and began a limping run. But before Luke could reach her, two figures melted out of the shadow, blasters aimed at his head. He hesitated, giving them the chance they needed to close in on Leia. One of them kept his blaster aimed at Luke, while the other lunged at Leia, jabbing an injector syringe into her shoulder. She lashed out, sinking her fist into his stomach—then sank into his arms with a small sigh.

"Leia!" Han shouted in alarm.

Chewbacca, who had been twisting Kiro into a knot, dropped the man and rushed to help the princess. Using Leia as a shield, the men backed away. One of them raised a comlink to his lips. "Now!" he snapped.

A large speeder truck whooshed down the street, screeching to a halt just long enough for the men to toss Leia inside and hop in after her. They scooped up Kiro's limp body and sped away. Han took aim—but didn't shoot. He couldn't risk causing a crash—not with Leia inside.

The speeder disappeared around a corner.

Luke sank to his knees. "I let her go," he said, sounding dazed. He unclipped the lightsaber from his belt. "If I'd trusted myself enough to use it…"

"Then you'd probably have gotten yourself killed, kid," Han said impatiently. They were wasting time. "At least you're still in one piece. That'll come in handy when we rescue her."

"She trusted me," Luke said, as if Han hadn't spoken. "I was supposed to protect her."

Han ran out of patience. "So do it!" he snapped. "She's out there somewhere, counting on us to find her."

Luke stood up, and retrieved his blaster. "You're right," he said, with renewed determination. "Let's find her."

Chewbacca growled the