The Empire Strikes Back (Junior Novelization)

by Ryder Windham

  Alarms sounded within the three Star Destroyers. Inside one destroyer, an Imperial officer shouted, “Take evasive action!” But it was too late for the two of them. As their hulls made brushing contact, the ugly sound of shredding metal could be heard on the bridges of both ships.

  With four TIE fighters still in hot pursuit, the Millennium Falcon raced away from the colliding destroyers. Inside the Falcon’s cockpit, Leia hung on to her seat and C-3PO braced himself against the hatch as Han and Chewbacca guided their ship through a dizzying spiral to evade the laser-firing TIE fighters.

  To Chewbacca, Han shouted, “Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed!”

  “But sir!” C-3PO cried to no avail. Han was already reaching for the hyperdrive controls.

  Leia saw the TIE fighters appear as incoming blips on a monitor and shouted, “They’re getting closer!”

  “Oh, yeah?” Han said with a gleam in his eye. “Watch this.” He pulled back on the hyperdrive shift. All eyes looked forward through the cockpit’s windows, to the starfield beyond. Han waited for his ship to hurtle forward into hyperspace and transform the view into long streaks of starlight…but outside the cockpit, the distant stars remained fixed against the darkness of space.

  “Watch what?” Leia asked.

  Han examined the controls and muttered, “I think we’re in trouble.”

  “If I may say so, sir,” C-3PO said, “I noticed earlier, the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It’s impossible to go to lightspeed!”

  “We’re in trouble!” Han decided as he switched to autopilot and rose from his seat. Chewbacca followed Han out of the cockpit and ran to the hold, where the mighty Wookiee bent to the deck and raised a metal plate to reveal a systems access area: a pit filled with a complex tangle of metal pipes, cables, and wires. Han hastily lowered himself into the pit while Chewbacca turned his attention to a nearby systems monitor panel.

  In the pit, Han wrapped his body around a horizontally stretched pipe and reached out to adjust a circuit switch. He shouted, “Horizontal boosters…!”

  From the far side of the hold, Chewbacca answered with a loud, negative bark.

  Han twisted his body around the metal pipe to reach for some different switches. He shouted, “Alluvial dampers! Now?” Another negative bark came from Chewbacca. Han said, “That’s not it.”

  A moment later, Chewbacca heard Han call from the pit: “Bring me the hydrospanners!” The Wookiee picked up a toolbox that had been resting on top of a metal barrel, then shuffled across the deck and placed the toolbox at the edge of the open pit. Han climbed up to select a hydrospanner from the toolbox and said, “I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this one.” He had just lowered himself from Chewbacca’s view when the Falcon was struck by something that caused a bone-jarring jolt, sending the toolbox sliding into the pit.

  “Oww!” Han yelled as the toolbox landed on him. “Chewie!” Han raised himself half out of the pit and felt another jolt, accompanied by a rumbling noise. “Those were no laserblasts!” Han realized. “Something hit us.”

  As Han scrambled out of the pit, Leia’s voice called from a comlink, “Han, get up here!”

  “Come on, Chewie!” Han said, racing from the hold.

  As Han and Chewbacca rushed into the cockpit, Leia greeted them with a single word: “Asteroids!” Her statement was confirmed by the nightmarish view outside the cockpit window. The Falcon had accidentally traveled into the Hoth system’s asteroid belt, and thousands of asteroids—pieces of stray matter and planetary debris—drifted through space. Some were small chunks of rock, but others were many times larger than the Falcon. Even worse, many asteroids were drifting at different speeds and trajectories.

  “Oh, no,” Han mumbled. He and Chewbacca pushed their way past Leia and C-3PO to jump back into their respective seats. Solo quickly glanced at the sensor monitors. So far, the Falcon’s particle shields were holding up against the debris, but the four TIE fighters and a single Star Destroyer were coming up fast behind them. As if to remind Han of their presence, the TIE fighters fired their cannons, and flak buffeted the Falcon’s shields.

  Without hesitation, Han said, “Chewie, set two-seven-one.”

  The Millennium Falcon accelerated, temporarily increasing the distance from the pursuing TIE fighters. But through the Falcon’s cockpit window, asteroids that were already too close for comfort appeared to grow larger.

  “What are you doing?” Leia said to Han. “You’re not actually going into an asteroid field?”

  “They’d be crazy to follow us, wouldn’t they?” Han pointed out, guiding his ship past more asteroids and deeper into the field.

  “You don’t have to do this to impress me,” Leia said, tightening her grip on her seat. She expected Han to respond with some cocky comment, and was dismayed when he didn’t. He kept his hands on the controls and his eyes on the sickening view in front of him.

  Protocol droids were not programmed to panic, but as C-3PO looked at the asteroids in the Falcon’s path, the feeling came to him naturally. Addressing Han, he said, “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand seven hundred and twenty to one.”

  “Never tell me the odds!” Han said with bravado.

  A large asteroid whizzed past the cockpit, then another flew past from a different direction. Han made the Falcon drop and weave to avoid being hit. Just off his starboard side, several small asteroids crashed into a larger one. The so-called asteroid field was more like an all-out asteroid storm.

  The Falcon veered around the large asteroid and raced past the explosion of smaller rocks. The four pursuing TIE fighters tried to swerve around the rocks, but one TIE fighter swooped straight into an asteroid and exploded.

  Two huge asteroids tumbled toward the Millennium Falcon, which quickly banked around both of them. The three TIE fighters followed but one of them scraped an asteroid and went tumbling out of control and smashed into another asteroid.

  Leia risked a glance at one of Han’s sensor screens. She saw there were only two TIE fighters still after them, but the pursuing destroyer had also entered the asteroid field. Before she could take any comfort in knowing that the Star Destroyer must be taking a severe beating, she became more concerned with the new bunch of asteroids that appeared to be racing toward the cockpit.

  She sat stone-faced, staring through the window as an enormous asteroid dropped past the cockpit and narrowly missed the Falcon. Chewbacca barked in terror. C-3PO’s hands covered his eyes.

  Han gave Leia a quick look. “You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake; well, this could be it, sweetheart.”

  “I take it back,” Leia gasped. More asteroids raced past the cockpit. “We’re going to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer.”

  “I’m not going to argue with that,” Han said.

  “Pulverized?” C-3PO repeated, too afraid to process the word.

  Han said, “I’m going closer to one of those big ones.”

  “Closer?” Leia cried in astonishment.

  “Closer?” C-3PO echoed.

  Louder than Leia and C-3PO, Chewbacca barked the word in his own language.

  Han threw the Millennium Falcon into a steep dive, aiming toward a moon-sized asteroid. The two remaining TIE fighters followed, and the Imperial pilots fired at the Falcon every chance they had.

  Seconds later, the Falcon was flying dangerously fast and low over the asteroid’s crater-pitted surface. Suddenly, the terrain dropped off to reveal a wide, high-walled canyon. As the TIE fighters continued to spit green laser fire after the Falcon, Han spotted a jagged, vertical shadow at the far end of the canyon that suggested a ravine between two high cliffs. Without any warning or explanation to his friends, Han raced for the gap. The TIE fighters kept after him.

  The Falcon sped into the ravine, but the distance between the two cliff walls narrowed rapidly. Banking hard past jagged rock, Han
swiftly elevated his ship’s port side while dropping the starboard, effectively transforming the Falcon’s profile so its height became its width, and allowing the Falcon to fly sideways through the ravine.

  Although the two TIE fighters were smaller than the Falcon, their pilots weren’t nearly as skilled as Han Solo. In quick succession, both TIE fighters smashed into the ravine walls and exploded.

  Still traveling sideways, the Millennium Falcon blasted out of the ravine to emerge in another canyon. As Han stabilized the ship, C-3PO cried, “Oh, this is suicide!”

  Han noticed something on his main scope. He nudged Chewbacca and pointed to a circular shadow on the canyon floor. “There,” Han said. “That looks pretty good.”

  “What looks pretty good?” Leia asked.

  “Yeah,” Han said. “That’ll do nicely.”

  Baffled, C-3PO turned to Leia and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, but where are we going?”

  Out the cockpit window, they saw the same circular shadow: a large crater on the asteroid’s surface. Han circled back, then swung the Falcon into a dive that deposited them into the crater…and total darkness.

  At the very tips of the Falcon’s extended mandibles, the forward floodlights came on. From what the crew could see, the crater they’d entered was really a deep tunnel.

  To Han, Leia said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  All Han could reply was, “Yeah, me too.”

  Luke Skywalker gazed at the strange, cloud-covered world that now filled the view from his X-wing. Behind him, R2-D2 beeped from his astromech socket, and Luke read R2-D2’s words as they were translated on the console monitor.

  “Yes, that’s it,” Luke replied into his comlink. “Dagobah.”

  R2-D2 beeped a hopeful question.

  Luke said, “No, I’m not going to change my mind about this.” Examining his sensor scopes, Luke seemed slightly apprehensive. “I’m not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life-form readings though. There’s something alive down there.…”

  Again, R2-D2 beeped, but this time his question was filled with worry.

  Luke said, “Yes, I’m sure it’s perfectly safe for droids.”

  It was twilight above Dagobah as Luke began his descent. He entered the atmosphere and his view was soon obscured by clouds. He turned his focus to his sensor scopes…and discovered they weren’t working.

  An alarm began to buzz, and R2-D2 beeped and whistled frantically.

  “I know, I know!” Luke said. “All the scopes are dead. I can’t see a thing! Just hang on. I’m going to start the landing cycle.”

  R2-D2 squealed, but his cries were drowned out by the deafening roar of the X-wing’s retrorockets. Luke flipped on the landing lights, but he still couldn’t see the planet’s surface through the dense atmosphere. Suddenly, there was a series of thrashing, cracking sounds, and Luke realized his ship was crashing through the upper branches of tall trees. Then, with a sudden jolt, the X-wing came to a stop.

  Luke had landed in a watery peat bog. The X-wing was half-submerged, but from what Luke could see through the fog, his ship was still in one piece.

  Luke opened the cockpit canopy and he got his first taste of Dagobah’s humid climate. The smell of rot permeated the air. As he pulled off his gloves, he heard the caws and croaks of mysterious, unseen creatures. Behind him, R2-D2 beeped nervously.

  Luke climbed out of his cockpit and stepped carefully onto the X-wing’s long nose as R2-D2 removed himself from his socket to have a better look at their fog-shrouded surroundings. The X-wing’s landing lights barely penetrated the fog, but R2-D2 was able to make out some of the giant, twisted gnarltrees that loomed around them. The gnarltrees had huge roots that rose out of the boggy terrain and gathered into wide trunks. Under and between the roots, cave-sized hollows had formed, leaving natural shelters for creatures of the swamp. Everything appeared to be covered with green moss or slime.

  R2-D2 whistled anxiously. Luke turned and said, “No, Artoo, you stay put. I’ll have a look around.”

  Still standing on the X-wing’s nose, Luke checked to make sure his blaster was secure in the holster at his right hip, then bent slightly as he removed his helmet. The movement was enough to make his starfighter shift, and R2-D2 was thrown off balance. The droid let out an electronic yelp as he fell into the bog with a loud splash.

  Luke spun and called, “Artoo?” He dropped to his knees and leaned out from the X-wing, trying to locate the droid, but the water’s surface was blanketed by mist. “Artoo! Where are you? Artoo!” Luke held his breath and waited for some sign of—

  A small periscope rose up through the mist. From underwater, R2-D2 made a gurgly beep.

  At the sight of the little astromech’s periscope, Luke let out a long breath. The periscope rotated so R2-D2 could glimpse his relieved master as he said, “You be more careful.”

  The periscope began to move through the mist, but Luke saw that R2-D2 wasn’t heading in the most direct route to the bog’s shore. “Artoo,” he said, and the periscope glanced back at him. Luke pointed toward shore and said, “That way!” R2-D2 beeped, then moved off again, following Luke’s instruction.

  Luke tossed his helmet into the X-wing’s open cockpit, then jumped into the murky water. He was right next to the shore and had no difficulty climbing some underwater roots to the muddy ground. But as he emerged with his g-suit covered in muck, he heard R2-D2’s pathetic electronic scream.

  Luke spun in time to see R2-D2’s periscope drop and vanish into the mist, as he caught a glimpse of a large serpentlike creature rolling through the water just behind the droid’s position. As suddenly as the creature had revealed its form, it disappeared underwater.

  “Artoo!” Luke shouted as he drew his blaster fast, ready to fire at the first sight of the beast when it resurfaced. But seconds passed, and it didn’t resurface. Luke watched the mist over the water and waited. Come on, Artoo. Make a noise. Do something!

  Without warning, there was an explosion of bubbles and mud, and R2-D2 was launched like a missile from the water. Luke watched in stunned silence as the ejected droid sailed through the air, screeching all the way, and dropped out of sight between two trees.

  The crash sounded awful.

  Luke scrambled over slippery moss and odorous plants to find R2-D2 coated with slime and mud, resting upside down against some gnarled roots.

  “Oh, no!” Luke said. “Are you all right?”

  R2-D2 beeped and flailed his upturned legs against the vines. Luke noticed some alien bones on the ground nearby, and he wondered if they’d been expectorated by the same creature that had tried to make a meal of R2-D2.

  “Come on,” Luke said, gently righting the poor droid to his feet. “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good. Anything broken?”

  Nothing appeared to be damaged, but R2-D2 responded with a beep that sounded soggy and miserable.

  Luke wiped mud from R2-D2’s body. “If you’re saying coming here was a bad idea, I’m beginning to agree with you.” He stood up and looked around, then squatted down beside the droid. “Artoo, what are we doing here? It’s like…something out of a dream or…I don’t know.” He pried more mud from the primary photo receptor on R2-D2’s domed head and added, “Maybe I’m just going crazy.”

  R2-D2 beeped, popped open a cranial access port, and spat mud onto the ground.

  On the Executor, Admiral Piett hesitated as he entered Darth Vader’s inner sanctum. From where Piett stood, just at the doorway, he could see Vader’s spherical meditation chamber was partially open, but the sphere’s interlocking mechanical jaws obscured the view of Vader himself. Piett moved cautiously forward, and when he was able to see the seated figure within the meditation chamber, he gulped in astonishment.

  Darth Vader was not wearing his helmet. He sat facing away from Piett, who shivered at the sight of the back of Vader’s head; it was pale, hairless, and heavily scarred.

  Take a good look,
Admiral, thought Vader. Imagine the worst, and let your fear fuel my power.

  Piett watched a robotic clamp lower from the sphere’s ceiling and place the familiar black helmet over Vader’s head. He quickly composed himself as Vader’s seat rotated to face him.

  Vader said, “Yes, Admiral?”

  “Our ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, Lord. But…it has entered an asteroid field, and we cannot risk—”

  “Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral,” Vader interrupted. “I want that ship, not excuses.”

  “Yes, Lord,” Piett said as the meditation chamber’s upper half descended.

  The Millennium Falcon had touched down inside the asteroid cave. A sensor scan had detected a warm, pressurized atmosphere outside the ship, but the Falcon’s crew was more concerned with repairing their ship than speleological anomalies. Leia, C-3PO, and Chewbacca were checking instruments in the cockpit when Han entered and said, “I’m going to shut down everything but the emergency power systems.”

  Hearing this, C-3PO said, “Sir, I’m almost afraid to ask, but…does that include shutting me down, too?”

  “No,” Han said with a smile as he flipped several switches to off positions. “I need you to talk to the Falcon and find out what’s wrong with the hyperdrive.”

  Suddenly, the ship lurched, causing the cockpit’s occupants to stumble into one another. A moment after it happened, the ship stabilized.

  Facing Han, C-3PO said, “Sir, it’s quite possible this asteroid is not entirely stable.”

  “Not entirely stable?” Han said with annoyance. “I’m glad you’re here to tell us these things.” He pushed C-3PO toward Chewbacca and said, “Chewie, take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive.”

  “Oh!” C-3PO exclaimed as Chewbacca guided him out of the cockpit. “Sometimes I just don’t understand human behavior. After all, I’m only trying to do my job in the most—” The hatch slid shut, cutting off C-3PO’s words.

  Leia and Han were still inside the cockpit when the Falcon suddenly lurched again. Leia was thrown across the cockpit into Han, and he stumbled back into the navigator’s seat. His arms encircled Leia protectively as she landed on his lap. Then, abruptly, the lurching motion stopped.