Rise of the Teenage Conquerors

Episode 1.15

Not to mention, the green streaks of lasers flashing past the ship.

"I saw them, Chewie!" Han snarled in response to Chewbacca's bark, jerking the ship into a downward spiral, trying to evade the seeking blasts of the TIE fighters behind them, the forerunners of a larger than life Imperial Star Destroyer.

The spiral hurled Lucas off his feet and he yelped as he slammed into the side of the cockpit, his head slamming into a wall. Swearing and moaning, he braced his feet against Leia's chair and his arms against the wall and waited for the spiraling to stop.

Finally, Han pulled out of the dive and Lucas' world stopped spinning, although his head didn't. Groaning, he sat up, hand pressed against his head.

"Saw what?" Leia gasped, her face white.

"Imperial Star Destroyers," Han answered, gritting his teeth.

"Dang it," Lucas muttered. "Ouch."

"Check the deflector shields, Chewie!" Han barked as Lucas considered whether or not he should stand up. With the TIE fighters still on their tail, it might be safer to remain on the cockpit floor for now.

"Sir, might I suggest –?" C-3PO said from the entrance.

"Shut up!" Han roared. "Prepare to make the jump to hyperspace."

"Hyperdrive doesn't work!" Lucas exclaimed.

"But, sir!" C-3PO joined in, almost simultaneously.

"Han, they're right," Lumina chipped in.

Han scoffed. "Watch this." He grabbed the hyperspace shift and pulled back. Lucas tensed but nothing happened. Just like he had predicted.

There was a moment of silence before Han said, "Uh-oh."

"I think this is where I say 'I told you so,'" Lucas said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" Han shouted as Leia gaped, looking from Lucas to Han, and Lumina covered her face with her hands, her dark hair falling forward and shielding her face.

"I noticed earlier that the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged," C-3PO said. "It's impossible to go into hyperspace!"

"What I said!" Lucas added.

"No, no, no!" Han exclaimed, running a hand through his hair as Chewbacca barked at him. "I know we're in trouble!" he snapped at his copilot, flicking on autopilot and standing up. He went to leave the cockpit and tripped over Lucas' legs, landing with a thud and a multitude of swearing.

Shoving himself up onto his feet, Han darted out of the cockpit, still cursing Lucas out, as Chewbacca followed him. Lucas catapulted to his feet, staggering a little as he chased after them into the hold.

Han was gripping the panel covering a pit, grunting as Chewbacca hurried over to him and helped him lift it up and cast it aside with a loud clatter. Lucas felt the ship rock and grimaced. Perhaps the Falcon didn't get blown up in the movies, but he didn't really feel like relying on that in the here and now. In the movies, his life hadn't been on the line.

Han slid into the pit, disappearing from sight except for his messy brown hair. Lucas hurried over to the edge of the pit and peered down at the smuggler, entrenched among the pipes and wires. Chewbacca, meanwhile, was checking a systems monitor.

"Horizontal boosters!" Han yelled. At Chewbacca's answering bark, he added, "Alluvial dampers! Now?"

"I can help, you know," Lucas interjected as Chewbacca barked. "I know a thing or two."

"No way in hell, kid," Han snarled. "It's not that, then. Chewie, bring me some hydrospanners!"

I've always wanted to use an actual hydrospanner.

Han hauled himself up enough to grab a hydrospanner from his first mate and lowered himself back into the pit. Lucas squatted down, watching as Han began to work on something. He tilted his head, trying to see what Han was adjusting.

The Falcon jerked suddenly as something slammed into the ship, sending Lucas flying head over heels into the pit. He landed on Han, who yelped. "Ow! What the –?"

He shoved Lucas off of him and pulled himself up out of the pit. "Clumsy idiot!" he yelled. Lucas slammed into a pipe, all the air being forced out of his lungs as he folded around the pipe like a rag doll. Wrapping his hands around the pipe, he gasped for air as he hung onto it for dear life. Slowly, as oxygen flooded back into his lungs and his head throbbed with pain at the fall, Lucas stabilized his position on the pipe and glanced up out of the pit.

There was no sound of Han or Chewbacca in the hold above. They had raced off to the cockpit to find out what was going on. All that was left was for Lucas to follow them.

Lucas hauled himself up out of the pit and stood up carefully. Looking around, he crouched, picking up the hydrospanner Han had tossed aside, and rising again was turning back to the pit when steam erupted from the pit, blasting in the air with a sharp hiss.

Lucas froze. That wasn't supposed to happen in the movie!