~How it All Began: Part 4~

Luke honestly didn't care that Han didn't believe in the Force. He just learned of its existence himself. It explained so much. 

He did feel something as Obi-Wan was instructing him. A presence awakened inside him, but it felt like it had been there all along. It was something he felt before, a faint memory. 

He was reminded of a time when he was six. He was supposed to be too young to remember, yet the memory always stuck with him. He was trying to locate a screwdriver. Something in his gut just knew that the missing tool was underneath the couch. And it was. All of Ben's training in the Force, it felt like that. 

The Falcon shuddered. Luke braced himself and made eye contact with his mentor. Against the unsteady motion, Luke worked his way into the cockpit with Ben following. 

  "What's going on?" he asked the captain. Standing behind Chewie, all he could see outside was space and a meteor shower, which explained the turbulence. 

  "Our position is correct, except... no Alderaan."

  "What do you mean? Where is it?"

  "That's what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It's been totally blown away."

  "What? How?" 

  "Destroyed. By the Empire," Ben answered quietly. 

  "I felt a great disturbance in the Force. It was as if millions of voices had suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."

  Of course, Han didn't believe him. "The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've–" He was interrupted by a whining beep from the console. "There's another ship incoming."

  "Maybe they know what happened?" Luke offered hopefully. 

  Glancing at the scopes, Obi-Wan announced grimly, "It's an Imperial fighter."

The ship, now out of the asteroid field, shook as the incoming ship fired twice. It passed the Falcon and its now in view flat wings and ball of a cockpit distinguished it as an Imperial TIE Fighter.

  "It followed us!" Luke cried incredulously.

  "No, it's a short-range fighter," Ben corrected. 

  "There aren't any bases around here. Where'd it come from?" asked Solo. 

  "Sure is leaving in a big hurry," Luke remarked. Then more panicked, he added, "If they identify us, we're in big trouble."

  "Not if I can help it," the smuggler declared with determination. "Chewie, jam its transmissions."

  "You might as well to let it go. It's too far out of range," Ben suggested.

  "Not for long," Han countered, pulling back three levers to increase the ship's speed.

  "A fighter this size couldn't have gotten this deep into space on its own," Ben murmured thoughtfully. 

  "He must have gotten lost. Part of a convoy or something," Luke suggested. 

  "Well, he ain't going to be around long enough to tell anyone about us," assured their confident pilot. 

  "Look at him. He's headed for that small moon," the boy pointed out. As they grew closer however, Luke began to doubt his original assumption. The "moon" had only one crater and looked as though it was built out of metal. 

  "I think I can get him before he get's there. He's almost in range." 

  "That's no moon..." Ben realized in a grave tone. "It's a space station."

Luke's stomach dropped. The space station was massive! Could that thing be responsible for Alderaan's destruction? A planet-killing weapon?

  "It's too big to be a space station," Han argued before he took a long look at the supposed moon. As they grew closer, the clearer it was that it was not an organic moon. The crater now appeared to be a large dish and lights flashed around what was beginning to look like a hanger. 

  "I have a very bad feeling about this."

  "Turn the ship around," Ben advised.

  "Yeah," Han swallowed, his eyes still on the station like he couldn't believe it. "I think you're right." That was the first time he agreed with him. "Full reverse. Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power."

Suddenly, the Millennium Falcon began to shake and continued to fly towards the Imperial station as if being pulled.

  "Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power!" he repeated with more urgency. 

  "Why are we still moving towards it?!" Luke demanded frantically. He had seen what the Empire could do, even to humble moisture farmers. 

  "We're caught in a tractor beam!" Han yelled back. "It's pulling us in."

  Fear sunk into his chest and he couldn't breathe. "There's gotta be something you can do."

  "There's nothing I can do about it, kid. I'm at full power. I'm going to have to shut down. They're not going to get me without a fight."

Luke wished he had Han's courage. The smuggler's defiance inspired him to get a grip on his emotions.

  Ben placed a gentle hand on the captain's shoulder. "You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting."

As they were being dragged into the hanger, Han stood and turned. Luke watched his eyes dart wildly and he could tell the space pirate forming a plan. 

  "I know what you're getting at," Han told Ben. He turned to his co-pilot. "Go open the compartments and get everyone inside." The captain met Luke's eyes. "Find your droids. You told me the Empire wanted 'em? Well, we're not going to let them have them."

Luke nodded, rather surprised to see the smuggler take charge, and immediately left to find the droids. 

  "You might want to jettison the escape pods," he heard Obi-Wan advise.

  "Do you know how expensive those are to replace?"

  "More or less valuable than your life?" was the calm response. 

  "Master Luke, what is happening?" C-3PO asked worriedly from the couch where he had been watching R2 and Chewbacca play derjak minutes ago. 

  "We're being pulled into an Imperial space station by a tractor beam. Follow Chewbacca. He's taking us someplace where we can hide."

  "Oh my! Hurry, R2!" 

The astromech was way ahead of him, rolling after the Wookiee at his heels. He was the one carrying the information, after all. 

Luke helped the stiff protocol droid to his feet and impatiently pushed him along. 

Chewbacca growled and waved his furry arms around, pointing into two compartments he had opened into the floor. Luke didn't understand a lick of Shyriiwook, but understood the Wookiee's pointing. 

  "R2, 3PO, get inside," Luke ordered. Chewbacca grabbed the astromech and lowered him into the compartment with his great strength. With the protocol droid moving too slowly and running out of time, Luke muttered an apology before pushing the golden droid into the gap, wincing at the loud clang. 

  Then he felt a light hand on his shoulder. "I will hide with the droids. I'll power them off so they can't be detected or make noise."

Luke nodded at his mentor. Chewie closed the compartment over the three while Luke sat on the edge of the other hole. Han rushed to join them. 

  "How close do you think we are?" Luke asked the pilot. 

  "Too close," Han answered, crouching down to peer into the cramped space below. They both dropped down, followed by the Wookiee, who closed the hatch and thrust them all into complete darkness. 

If he had to crouch slightly, he assumed the taller man had to do so, as well. Chewbacca was practically folded, taking up most of the cramped space. Luke couldn't breathe, and he got a mouthful of Wookiee hair.

  "Ouch, that's my knee!"

Chewie rumbled an apology.

  "Quiet!" Han snapped. 

The ship dropped sharply. He winced at the screech of metal against metal. Han Solo will not be happy about that. Soon, they heard footsteps marching all over the ship. Luke stiffened and held his breath.

  "Search the ship! Every centimeter of it!"

  "The escape pods have been deployed, sir!"

  "The captain's log indicates they abandoned ship."

Luke threw an impressed look in Han's direction, knowing the smuggler couldn't see it. It must be killing him, letting Imperials track all over his ship. As boots clicked above them without a second thought, Luke realized with relief that they were not to be found.

Once the Falcon was silent again, Luke and Han lifted the metal panel. Fresh oxygen filled his lungs and cooled his face, making Luke more alert. Han had his blaster out as he checked for any more Stormtroopers. As soon as they knew the coast was clear, they all began to climb out.

  "Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments," Luke remarked before remembering that Ben had said there was no such thing as luck.

  "I use them for smuggling," Han replied. "I never thought I would be smuggling myself into them." Then to the emerging Ben, he continued, "This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I could never get past the tractor beam."

  "Leave that to me."

  "Damn fool, I knew you were going to say that."

  "Who's the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows it?"

Luke and Han sat on the edge of the compartments to give Chewie some room. The Wookiee popped his head out and growled softly, to which Han responded with a pat on his furry head.