What If : The Story Retold

Greiving and Revenge.

"I hope that old man got that tractor beam out of commission, or this is gonna be a real short trip!" Han said mostly to himself as he jumped into the pilot's chair besides Chewie, "Ok, hit it!"

To their relief, the ship started up on command, unrestrained by the tractor beam which had previously incapacitated them before. Still under fire from below, Han lead the Falcon out of the docking bay and made to escape.

The twins, though usually wanting to be caught up in the action, were sat down in the main living area of the ship. They were slumped against the holochess table, still in shock at what they had witnessed. Leia used the force to pull a blanket from the other side of the room towards them. Wrapping it round her and her brother, Leia rest her head on Luke's shoulder, lamenting the loss of their dear Uncle Obi-Wan.

"I can't believe he's gone..." Luke mused absently, his voice no louder than a whisper.

"There wasn't anything we could have done..." Leia replied, mostly just to assure herself.

Their grieving was cut short when Han hurried out from the cockpit and gestured to the ladder in the corridor which lead to the guns, "Come on, buddy. We're not out of this yet."

Ever the stoic type, the Skywalker twins buried their sorrow for another time as Han was right. Maul wouldn't let them go without a fight.

Leia hurried into the cockpit, ready to help Chewie should he need it whilst Luke rushed after Han, taking his place at the second gun.

"You in kid?" Han asked as he fitted the headset over his hair and fiddled around with the gun controls, "Ok, stay sharp."

"Here they come! Viper droids, these things are particularly nasty!" Leia warned as the ship shook and the targeting screens for the guns turned online.

Sure enough, both Han and Luke could see the droids circling the ship with quite some speed. Even for Jedi reflexes, these gun controls were far from the best and those droids were top of the range.

"They're coming in too fast!" Luke yelled down the corridor to Han who was having a similar problem.

"We've lost the lateral controls!" Leia yelled as the droids came in for another onslaught against the already struggling ship.

"Don't worry. She'll hold together," Han reassured her as he talked into the headset before adding, a little softer to the ship itself, "Hear me, baby? Hold together."

A few deadly minutes passed with only the screeching of the drones and the rumble of the Falcon filling the time. The only saving grace was when Han laughed in joy when finally he hit one, blowing it to bits.

Moments after and another explosion could be heard from the other side.

"Got him! I got him!"

"Great, kid! Don't get cocky!" Han responded, turning back to the fight at hand.

"There's still two more of them out there!" Leia informed them, the whole ship now shaking and she could have sworn she smelt something burning from the inside of the ship.

No one dared to speak as the last dreaded minutes passed. But, they all fell releaved as the last two droids were blasted into oblivion.

***

"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh?" Han smirked as he entered the cockpit, taking off his gloves and sitting in the co-pilot's seat next to Leia, "You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."

"That doesn't sound too hard." Leia scoffed, "Now I'd be much obliged if you'll take me and my brother back home to Coressant. It's not over yet."

"It is for me, sister," Han retorted matter-of-factly, "Look I ain't in this for your war and I'm not in it for you, Jedi. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money."