'No, that's all right, Artoo. I'd rather keep it on manual control for a while.'

Then the stout robot delivered a final whimper that sounded to Luke like a noise of defeat. Luke was amused by the droid's concern for his health. 'Trust me, Artoo,' Luke said with a gentle smile. 'I know where I'm going and I'll get us there safely. It's not far.'

Han Solo was desperate now. The Falcon had still not been able to shrug off the four TIE fighters or the enormous Star Destroyer that pursued it.

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 c.o.c.kpit. She was frantic. 'Get up here!'

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

'Asteroids!'

Enormous chunks of flying rock hurtled through s.p.a.ce as far as they could see. As if those d.a.m.n 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...o...b..t. It was flanked by two other Star Destroyers and the entire group was accompanied by a protective squadron of smaller warships. In the central Destroyer, Admiral Piett stood outside Darth Vader's private meditation chamber. The upper jaw slowly opened until Piett was able to glimpse his robed master standing in the shadows. 'My lord,' Piett said with reverence.

'Come in, Admiral.'

Admiral Piett felt great awe as he stepped into the dimly lit room and approached the Dark Lord of the Sith. His master stood silhouetted so that Piett could just barely make out the lines of a set of mechanical appendages as they retracted a respirator tube from Vader's head. He shuddered when he realized that he might be the first ever to have seen his master unmasked.

The sight was horrifying. Vader, his back turned to Piett, was entirely clothed in black; but above his studded black neck band gleamed his naked head. Though the admiral tried to avert his eyes, morbid fascination forced him to look at that hairless, skull-like head. It was covered with a maze of thick scar tissue that twisted around against Vader's corpse-pale skin. The thought crossed Piett's mind that there might be a heavy price for viewing what no one else had seen. Just then, the robot hands grasped the black helmet and gently lowered it over the Dark Lord's head.

His helmet back in place, Darth Vader turned to hear his admiral's report.

'Our pursuit ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, my lord. It has entered an asteroid field.'

'Asteroids don't concern me, Admiral,' Vader said as he slowly clenched his fist. 'I want that ship, not excuses. How long until you will have Skywalker and the others in the Millennium Falcon?'

'Soon, Lord Vader,' the admiral answered, trembling in fear.

'Yes, Admiral...' Darth Vader said slowly,'... soon.'

Two gigantic asteroids hurtled toward the Millennium Falcon. Its pilot quickly made a daring banking maneuver that brought it skirring out of the path of those two asteroids, nearly to collide with a third.

As the Falcon darted in and out of the asteroid field, it was followed closely by three Imperial TIE fighters that veered through the rocks in hot pursuit. Suddenly one of the three was fatally sc.r.a.ped by a shapeless chunk of rock and spun off in another direction, hopelessly out of control. The other two TIE fighters continued their chase, accompanied by the Star Destroyer Avenger, which was blasting speeding asteroids in its path.

Han Solo glimpsed the pursuing ships through the windows of his c.o.c.kpit as he spun his craft around, speeding under yet another oncoming asteroid, then bringing the freighter back to its right-side-up position. But the Millennium Falcon was not yet out of danger. Asteroids were still streaking past the freighter. A small one bounced off the ship with a loud, reverberating clang, terrifying Chewbacca and causing See Threepio to cover his eye lenses with a bronzed hand.

Han glanced at Leia and saw that she was sitting stone-faced as she stared at the swarm of asteroids. It looked to him as if she wished she were thousands of miles away.

'Well,' he remarked, 'you said you wanted to be around when I was wrong.'

She didn't look at him. 'I take it back.'

'That Star Destroyer is slowing down,' Han announced, checking his computer readings.

'Good,' she replied shortly.

The view outside the c.o.c.kpit was still thick with racing asteroids. 'We're going to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer,' he observed.

'I'm against that,' Leia remarked dryly.

'We've got to get out of this shower.'

'That makes sense.'

'I'm going to get in closer to one of the big ones,' Han added.

That did not make sense.

'Closer!' Threepio exclaimed, throwing up his metal arms. His artificial brain could scarcely register what his auditory sensors had just perceived.

'Closer!' Leia repeated in disbelief.

Chewbacca stared at his pilot in amazement and barked.

None of the three could understand why their captain, who had risked his life to save them all, would now try to get them killed! Making a few simple adjustments on the c.o.c.kpit controls, Han swerved the Millennium Falcon between a few larger asteroids, then aimed the craft directly at one the size of a moon.

A flashing shower of smaller rocks exploded against the enormous asteroid's craggy surface as the Millennium Falcon, with the Emperior's TIE fighters still in pursuit, flew directly above the asteroid. It was like skimming over the surface of a small planet, barren and devoid of all life.

With expert precision, Han Solo steered his ship toward still another giant asteroid, the largest one they had yet encountered. Summoning all the skill that had made his reputation known throughout the galaxy, he maneuvered the Falcon so that the only object between it and the TIE fighters was the deadly floating rock.

There was only a brief, brilliant flare of light, then nothing. The shattered remains of the two TIE fighters drifted away into the darkness and the tremendous asteroid - undeflected in its course - continued on its way.

Han felt an inner glow as bright as the spectacle that had just lighted up the view. He smiled to himself in quiet triumph.

Then he noticed an image on the main scope of his control console and nudged his hairy copilot. 'There.' Han pointed to the image. 'Chewie, get a reading on that. Looks pretty good.'

'What is it?' Leia asked.

The Falcon's pilot ignored her question. 'That should do nicely,' he said.

As they flew near the asteroid's surface, Han looked down at the craggy terrain, his eye caught by a shadowy area that looked like a crater of mammoth proportions. He lowered the Falcon to surface level and flew it directly into the crater, its bowl-like walls suddenly rising up around his ship.

And still two TIE fighters chased after him, firing their laser cannons and attempting to mimic his every maneuver.

Han Solo knew he had to be trickier and more daring if he was to lose the deadly pursuit ships. Spotting a narrow chasm through his windscreen, he banked the Millennium Falcon to one side. The ship soared sideways through the high-walled rocky trench.

Unexpectedly the two TIE fighters followed. One of them even sparked as it grazed the walls with its metal hull.

Twisting, banking, and turning his ship, Han pressed through the narrow gorge. From behind, the black sky flared as the two TIE fighters crashed against one another, then exploded against the rocky ground.

Han reduced his speed. He still wasn't safe from the Imperial hunters. Searching about the canyon, he spotted something dark, a gaping cave mouth at the very bottom of the crater, large enough to hold the Millennium Falcon - perhaps. If not, he and his crew would know soon enough.

Slowing his ship, Han coursed into the cave entrance and through a large tunnel, which he hoped would make the ideal hiding place. He took a deep breath as his ship was promptly devoured by the cave's shadows.

A tiny X-wing was approaching the atmosphere of the Dagobah planet.

As he neared the planet, Luke Skywalker was able to glimpse a portion of its curved surface through a heavy cover of thick clouds. The planet was uncharted and virtually unknown. Somehow Luke had made his way there, though he wasn't certain whether it was his hand alone that had guided his ship into this unexplored sector of s.p.a.ce.

Artoo Detoo, riding in the back of Luke's X-wing, scanned the pa.s.sing stars, then addressed his remarks to Luke via the computer scope.

Luke read the viewscreen interpreter. 'Yes, that's Dagobah, Artoo,' he answered the little robot, then glanced out the c.o.c.kpit window as the fighter ship began to descend toward the planet's surface. 'Looks a little grim, doesn't it?'

Artoo beeped, attempting for one last time to get his master back on a more sensible course.

'No,' Luke replied, 'I don't want to change my mind about this.' He checked the ship's monitors and began to feel a bit nervous. 'I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Ma.s.sive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there.'

Artoo was worried, too, and that was translated as an apprehensive inquiry.

'Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids. Will you take it easy?' Luke was beginning to get annoyed. 'We'll just have to see what happens.'

He heard a pathetic electronic whimper from the rear of the c.o.c.kpit.

'Don't worry!'

The X-wing sailed through the twilight halo separating pitch black s.p.a.ce from the planet's surface. Luke took a deep breath, then plunged his craft into the white blanket of mists.

He couldn't see a thing. His vision was entirely obstructed by the dense whiteness pressing against the canopy windows of his ship. His only choice was to control his X- wing solely by instruments. But the scopes weren't registering anything, even as Luke flew ever nearer to the planet. Desperately he worked his controls, no longer able to discern even so much as his alt.i.tude.

When an alarm began to buzz, Artoo joined its clarion call with his own frantic series of whistles and beeps.

'I know, I know!' Luke shouted, still fighting the controls of his ship. 'All the scopes are dead! I can't see a thing. Hang on, I'm going to start the landing cycle. Let's just hope there's something underneath us.'

Artoo squealed again, but his sounds were effectively drowned by the ear-splitting blast of the X-wing's retrorockets. Luke felt his stomach plunge as the ship began to drop rapidly. He braced against his pilot's seat, steeling himself for any possible impact. Then the ship lunged and Luke heard an awful sound as if the limbs of trees were being snapped off by his speeding craft.

When the X-wing finally screeched to a halt, it was with a tremendous jolt that nearly flung its pilot through the c.o.c.kpit window. Certain, at last, that he was on the ground, Luke slumped back in his chair and sighed with relief. He then pulled a switch that lifted his ship's canopy. When he raised his head outside the ship to get his first look at the alien world, Luke Skywalker gasped.

The X-wing was completely surrounded by mists, its bright landing lights not illuminating more than a few feet in front of it. Luke's eyes gradually began to grow accustomed to the gloom all around him so that he could just barely see the twisted trunks and roots of grotesque-looking trees. He pulled himself out of the c.o.c.kpit as Artoo detached his stout body from its cubbyhole plug.

'Artoo,' Luke said, 'you stay put while I look around.'

The enormous gray trees had gnarled and intertwining roots that rose far above Luke before they joined to form trunks. He tilted back his head and could see the branches, high above, that seemed to form a canopy with the low-hanging clouds. Luke cautiously climbed out onto the long nose of his ship and saw that he had crash-landed in a small, fog-shrouded body of water.

Artoo emitted a short beep - then there was a loud splash, followed by silence. Luke turned just in time to glimpse the droid's domed topside as it disappeared beneath the water's foggy surface.

'Artoo! Artoo!' Luke called. He kneeled down on the smooth hull of the ship and leaned forward, anxiously searching for his mechanical friend.

But the black waters were serene, revealing not a sign of the little R2 unit. Luke could not tell how deep this still, murky pond might be; but it looked extremely deep. He was suddenly gripped by the realization that he might never see his droid friend again. Just then, a tiny periscope broke through the surface of the water and Luke could hear a faint gurgling beep.

What a relief! Luke thought, as he watched the periscope make its way toward sh.o.r.e. He ran along the nose of his X-wing fighter, and when the sh.o.r.e line was less than three meters away, the young commander jumped into the water and scrambled up the sh.o.r.e. He looked back and saw that Artoo was still making his way toward the beach.

'Hurry, Artoo!' Luke shouted.

Whatever it was that suddenly moved through the water behind Artoo moved too quickly and was too obscured by the mist for Luke to clearly identify it. All he could see was a ma.s.sive dark form. This creature rose up for a moment, then dove beneath the surface, making a loud bang against the little droid's metal hull. Luke heard the robot's pathetic electronic scream for help. Then, nothing ...

Luke stood there, horror-struck, as he continued to stare at the black waters, still as death itself. As he watched, a few tell-tale bubbles began to erupt at the surface. Luke's heart began to pound in fear as he realized he was standing too near the pool. But before he could move, the runt-size robot was spat out by the thing lurking beneath the black surface. Artoo made a graceful arc through the air and came crashing down onto a soft patch of gray moss.

'Artoo,' Luke yelled, running to him, 'are you okay?' Luke was grateful that the shadowy swamp lurker apparently found metal droids neither palatable nor digestible.

Feebly the robot replied with a series of faint whistles and beeps.