s.h.i.+ps 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 s.p.a.ce again, behind the controls of his s.h.i.+p.

But this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind.

There had been twelve guards surrounding the Falcon 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 hok.u.m," he'd explained with a laugh.

But after that, there was no more time for jokes or hok.u.m. Div launched his Firespray, and Han and Chewbacca set off in the Falcon 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, s.h.i.+fting 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 c.o.c.kpit 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 Millennium Falcon was careening straight toward a squadron of TIE fighters. 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 s.h.i.+p 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 Falcon gave them cover as they zoomed through the maze of s.h.i.+ps, firing without stop. gave them cover as they zoomed through the maze of s.h.i.+ps, 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 Falcon was going to crash straight into the Imperials. 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 Falcon didn't look like much of anything- didn't look like much of anything- except a pile of junk, that is. The Millennium Falcon Millennium Falcon was always breaking down-if it wasn't the particle s.h.i.+elds, it was the hyperdrive or the aft sensory array-but Han always claimed the s.h.i.+p had never let him down, and never would. And Han was right about one thing: If you treated her right, she could fly like no s.h.i.+p Luke had ever seen. was always breaking down-if it wasn't the particle s.h.i.+elds, it was the hyperdrive or the aft sensory array-but Han always claimed the s.h.i.+p had never let him down, and never would. And Han was right about one thing: If you treated her right, she could fly like no s.h.i.+p Luke had ever seen.

Still, it was going to take more than a few good s.h.i.+ps to untangle this mess. Luke never felt more at home than when he was behind the controls of a s.h.i.+p. He was able to clear his mind and focus it, all at once, letting himself become one with the machine. He dipped and glided, slipping through the web of Imperial attackers, watching his torpedoes streak through s.p.a.ce. They always. .h.i.t their mark.

But even if he shot down every s.h.i.+p he saw, he was only one pilot-there were hundreds of TIE fighters, maybe thousands of them. The Rebel fleet was barely holding its own.

The comm unit pinged. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Div asked.

"We need to take out more s.h.i.+ps," Luke said, stating the obvious.

"Not to mention stop from getting taken out ourselves," Han chimed in, as another X-wing burst into flame.

"Exactly," Div agreed. "And I've got an idea."

Luke listened as Div laid out his strategy. It was dangerous, and probably crazy.

Which meant it might actually work.

"On my mark!" Div barked into the comm. He pulled his s.h.i.+p into a whiplash turn.

"Mark!" He looped up and around the squadron of TIE fighters, leading them on a wild chase through the battlefield. Han and Luke flanked him on either side, joined by several other Rebel s.h.i.+ps. As planned, the Rebels didn't fire-they channeled all their power into the thrusters, narrowly outpacing the TIE pursuers.

"Faster," Div murmured, pus.h.i.+ng the engines far past their breaking point. "Come on."

The cloud was nearly in reach. The Mon Calamari cruisers had done their part perfectly. The plasma bombs they'd detonated had expelled a ma.s.sive cloud of gas. It obscured a thousand meters of s.p.a.ce behind an eerie red glow. The cloud would be harmless to s.h.i.+ps pa.s.sing through it, but was poison to navigational instruments, which meant as soon as they entered, they'd be flying blind. Perfect.

Div streaked into the cloud, letting his instincts guide the way, as they always had. He counted off the seconds aloud. "Three, two, one...Now!" he shouted into the comm. He yanked the controls, dropping the s.h.i.+p into a steep dive. Every Rebel s.h.i.+p did exactly the same. But the Imperials had no one to signal them-and no one to remind them that a Star Destroyer hovered on the other side of the cloud.

The squadron of TIE fighters slammed into the side of the s.h.i.+p, ripping a jagged hole in its hull. The ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p began to list and shudder. Only a few of the TIE fighters peeled off in time, alerted by the explosions and shrapnel that danger lay ahead. Div wasn't about to give any of them a chance to shoot down the fleeing Rebels. As the X-wings followed orders and sped away, Div zoomed into the fray, picking off the TIE fighters one by one.

Dimly, through the comm, he heard Luke and Han urging some of the Rebel transport s.h.i.+ps to activate hyperdrives while the Imperials struggled to regroup. The X-wings gave the larger s.h.i.+ps cover as they sped out of the system and winked into hypers.p.a.ce. But Div's attention was laser-focused on the four s.h.i.+ps that had survived the sneak attack, all of which were firing on him at once.

He was a good pilot.

The best.

But he couldn't evade missiles from four directions at once. One struck a glancing blow to his forward hull. Another blasted into his rear thrusters. Smoke filled the cabin.

The navigational controls became sluggish...and then stopped responding altogether.

Which meant whether he survived this encounter or not, he'd be of no use to the Rebel fleet. And since the hyperdrive had been blown out with the first missile, it was only a little longer before he'd be of no use to anyone.

But the laser cannons were still operational, and as the TIE fighters moved in for the kill, Div let them approach. "Just a little closer," he whispered. If this was going to be his last fight, he intended to win it.

They thought he was helpless, and were careless as they approached. Which gave Div one chance. He lined up the shot, then closed his eyes, waiting.

This time, he didn't have to try to connect to the Force. It was there for him, as Ferus had always promised him it would be. Now. Now. He felt it, with a deep certainty. He pulled the trigger, and opened his eyes. A missile screamed into the nearest TIE fighter. The s.h.i.+p exploded, neatly splitting down the middle. Its solar energy collectors blew off in opposite directions, cras.h.i.+ng into the two TIE fighters that flanked it. The fourth got caught in the blowback, and blew up a moment later. He felt it, with a deep certainty. He pulled the trigger, and opened his eyes. A missile screamed into the nearest TIE fighter. The s.h.i.+p exploded, neatly splitting down the middle. Its solar energy collectors blew off in opposite directions, cras.h.i.+ng into the two TIE fighters that flanked it. The fourth got caught in the blowback, and blew up a moment later.

Just not before it released one final torpedo.

Div had miscalculated-only slightly, but enough.

As the torpedo rocketed toward him, time seemed to slow. Unfortunately, it only gave him a chance to watch the end creeping closer.

He had chosen this sacrifice. It was probably a futile one, since all he'd done was buy the Rebels a bit more time.

But sometimes more time was all you needed.

The torpedo slammed into his s.h.i.+p and blew off his stabilizer fin. The s.h.i.+p spiraled out of control, spinning wildly in a cyclone of debris.

"Div!" Luke shouted through the comm.

"Make this count, Luke," Div said, but he suspected his communications system had failed, like the rest of them. Alarms were blaring through the s.h.i.+p as he plunged toward the moon's atmosphere.

There was nothing to do now but wait.

"Div!" Luke shouted again, but there was still no answer. The Firespray was bleeding exhaust and fuel as it dropped toward the moon. Within moments, it had slipped into the atmosphere. It sliced through the clouds, a red-hot ember growing dimmer and dimmer.

And then it was gone. "We have to go after him," Luke cried.

"He's gone, kid," Han said. "But he bought us some time. Be grateful for that."

Luke knew he was right. The Rebels needed them up here, not down there, scouring the surface for wreckage.

And surely that's all there would be, wreckage. Even if Div had managed to eject before his s.h.i.+p burned up in the atmosphere, he could be stranded anywhere on the moon.

That was millions of kilometers of ground to search-there was no way they could do that before the supernova. One way or another, Div was gone.

The fighting continued without him, but Han was right: Div had bought them some time. A good chunk of the fleet had managed to escape. Of course, that meant the ones that remained were more outnumbered than ever. Div wouldn't be the last to fall.

But Luke couldn't think about what might happen. He couldn't think about how narrow their chances were. He could only think about surviving each moment, and the next. The next TIE fighter, the next missile, the next laserbolt, the next explosion. The moments blurted and the battle seemed to stretch on forever, until Luke felt he'd been in this c.o.c.kpit his entire life. He fired and fired again, and yet there were always new s.h.i.+ps emerging from the wreckage. The Imperials would never give up.

And then the sky lit up with a bright, blinding flare.

First he thought another squadron had been taken out, but this was brighter than a simple explosion, brighter than anything he'd ever seen. It seared his vision, and for a few seconds, he saw nothing but a glowing black.

He blinked hard, and gradually, the world came back. But it was a changed world: There was a roiling storm of fire where the dim sun had been. The resonance torpedoes had ignited their chain reaction-the sun began its collapse. The shock wave traveled at a small fraction of the speed of light, which meant they had a little time before it hit. About forty minutes, the droids had calculated-after that, the explosion would consume them all.

"This is Gold Leader," the voice came over the comm link. "The Imperials are fleeing.

Repeat, the Imperials are fleeing. All s.h.i.+ps return to base."

It was true. The firing had stopped, as understanding spread through both fleets. Star Destroyers and Rebel freighters alike were winking into hypers.p.a.ce, desperate to flee the dying sun.

But Leia was still below, helping evacuate the moon. Which meant Luke wasn't going anywhere but down.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

"You'll be fine," Ferus a.s.sured the stooped old woman, a streak of dried blood smeared across her face.

"Just activate the hyperdrive as soon as you're clear of the gravitational field," Leia instructed the pilot, as he climbed aboard the s.h.i.+p that Soresh had taken hostage one month before.

"Be brave for your mother," Ferus said, resting his hand on a young boy's scruffy brown hair. "She needs you."

One by one, the shaken settlers climbed aboard their s.h.i.+p. They had been trapped on the moon for weeks; locked inside dank cells with fading hope of escape. It seemed no one could believe that they were actually being given a s.h.i.+p and a means to escape. But, weeping or smiling, they all climbed on board.

"That should be the last of them," Leia said.

Among the guards, confusion had proved contagious. Without Soresh around to give them orders, they were easily swayed. With the help of the guards Luke had freed, Leia and Ferus had herded them all onto s.h.i.+ps of their own. The moon was evacuated and the sun would explode in thirty-eight minutes-which meant it was time for them to go.

After making one final sweep of the main base installation, Ferus and Leia retreated to the hangar, where the final s.h.i.+p of hostages was waiting for them.

It was the first time they'd really been alone together since Ferus had arrived on the moon. "I was very relieved to discover you were safe, Princess," Ferus told her. Leia would never know how how relieved, just as she would never know that he had sworn his life to protect her. There was so much he hadn't told her-and so many lies that he had. relieved, just as she would never know that he had sworn his life to protect her. There was so much he hadn't told her-and so many lies that he had.

"I wasn't the one in real danger," Leia said, as they rushed toward the s.h.i.+p. "Luke was the one who risked everything. Sometimes I wonder..." She drifted off.

"Leia?" Ferus prompted her. It wasn't like the princess not to say exactly what was on her mind.

"I wonder what I would have done in his place," she admitted. "Whether I would have been strong enough to hold out against Soresh."

"Of course you would have!" Ferus a.s.sured her. "Princess, you're the strongest person I know."

But Leia shook her head. "But it isn't just strength, is it? Luke has something else...a certainty, a belief in his destiny. Even when everything else is stripped away, he still has..."

"The Force?" Ferus guessed.

Leia reddened, and a small laugh bubbled out of her. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this," she said. "It's ridiculous, I know. There's nothing Luke can do with his lightsaber that I can't do with my blaster. It's just sometimes I wonder how much more I could do for the Rebels if I had his gifts. I wonder if I could have saved-" She stopped, abruptly.

But Ferus knew what she was thinking. "What happened to Alderaan is not your fault, Princess. You couldn't have stopped it."

"You're right," Leia said, looking away. " I I couldn't." couldn't."

Ferus was quiet for a moment. He listened to the sound of their pounding footsteps.

Then he made a decision. "Leia, stop," he said, and grabbed her arm.

"We've got less than half an hour," Leia said. "That doesn't leave much time for sightseeing."

"Just a second," Ferus said. "Indulge an old man."

She stopped running, and gave him an impatient stare. "Well, what is it?"

She took his breath away, this fierce, brave woman she had become. When he looked at her, he still saw the inquisitive toddler, the willful child, the rebellious teenager-he saw her entire life, and understood it had all led up to this moment. She was ready.

Ready to know the truth-ready to know her destiny.

No longer would he allow her to live in ignorance. No longer would he let her feel powerless or less than less than. No longer could he stand hearing her question her own strength.

No longer would he listen as she doubted herself.