THE EIGHTH [han solo]

[2.06]

                 

[THE MILLENNIUM FALCON
SPACE]

The Millennium Falcon shook and rocked back and forth as flak exploded near the cockpit window. Threepio checked a tracking scope and the side control panel while Leia watched tensely out the window.
"Oh, thank goodness we're coming out of the asteroid field." Threepio said. Octavia rolled her eyes. Chewie barked excitedly as the rain of asteroids began to subside. A bolt from the Star Destroyer set up a fiery explosion on the back side of the Falcon, causing it to lurch to one side. Octavia was thrown across the room and onto Han, she stood quickly, as she had let Leia take the Navigators seat, she had to learn to keep her balance better. The Falcon was hit hard by another bolt from the Star Destroyer which created a huge explosion near the cockpit of the smaller ship. The Falcon tilted steeply, then righted itself.
"Let's get out of here. Ready for light-speed? One... two... three!" Octavia held onto something, which turned out to be Han's shoulder. Han pulled back on the hyperspace throttle however nothing happened. Flak bursts continued to rock the ship.
"It's not fair!" Han said, pulling back again.
"Stop being a whiny baby Solo, and do something." Octavia said. Chewie was angry and started to growl and bark at Han. Again, Han desperately pulled back on the throttle.
"The transfer circuits are working. It's not my fault!" He whined.
"No light-speed?" Leia asked.
"No light-speed." Octavia confirmed.
"It's not my fault." Han said.
"Quit whining Solo." Octavia repeated.
"Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield. One more direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for." Threepio said. Han paused for a moment, leaning back and then made his decision. He then pulled back on a lever.
"Turn her around." He said.
"Solo, are you mental?" Octavia asked.
"I said turn her around Princess! I'm going to put all power in the front shield." He said.
"You're going to attack them?!" Leia asked in disbelief.
"Solo, this could work. Or it could kill us. Just make sure it isn't the second one okay." Octavia said, and quickly told Chewie to go check on the Hold, and slid into his seat.
"Sir, the odds of surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer-" Threepio started, but was cut off by Leia and Octavia at the same time.
"Shut up!" The two of them huffed. The Falcon banked, made a steep, twisting turn. In the next moment it began racing toward the Star Destroyer, looking very small against the massive surface of the Imperial ship. As it moved across the surface of the Star Destroyer, the Falcon bobbed and weaved to avoid the numerous flak bursts.
"Captain Solo, this time you have gone too far." Threepio almost yelled.
"Threepio, kindly shut your metal mouth." Octavia pulled back on a lever and began helping with the controls. Chewbacca came back into the room, and Han looked over at him.
"No, I will not be quiet, Octavia. Why doesn't anyone listen to me?" Threepio said.
"The fleet is beginning to break up. Go back and stand by the manual release for the landing claw." Han said to Chewie. He huffed, but left to go and find the claw.
"I really don't see how that is going to help. Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances. The Empire may be gracious enough-" Threepio said. Leia reached over and shut off Threepio, mid-sentence.
"Dear Kriff. Thank you." Octavia said, looking gratefully at Leia.
"What did you have in mind for your next move?" Leia asked.
"Well, if they follow standard Imperial procedure, they'll dump their garbage before they go to light-speed." Han said.
"And then we'll just float away." Octavia added.
"With the rest of the garbage. Then what?" Leia asked.
"Then we've got to find a safe port somewhere around here. Got any ideas?" Han asked.
"No. Where are we?" Leia asked.
"The Anoat system." Han replied.
"I would offer my contacts, but since I beheaded Qu-Za quite a few of them hate me., and I'm not sure how many still like me. " Octavia said. "And I don't think we want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire."
"You killed Qu?" Han asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, killed him for betraying me, he should've thought twice about that move."
"You're dangerous." Leia said.
"I'm more than dangerous. I'm deadly, I'm chaos-"
"You're a drama queen. Be quiet." Han said. 
"Anoat system. There's not much there." Leia muttered.
"No. Well, wait. This is interesting. Lando." Han said.
"Lando?" Octavia asked. Han pointed to a computer mapscreen on the control panel. A small light point representing several star systems flashed by on the computer screen.
"Lando system?" Leia asked.
"Lando's not a system, he's a man. Lando Calrissian. He's a card player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him." Han said to Octavia.
"Sounds like my kinda guy." She grinned.
"Bespin. It's pretty far, but I think we can make it." Han said.
"A mining colony?" Leia asked.
"Yeah, a Tibanna gas mine. Lando conned somebody out of it. We go back a long way, Lando and me." Han smiled.
"Can you trust him Solo?" Octavia looked at Han, her eyes looked even larger and more violet in the light. Han looked right back at her, some sort of challenge.
"No. But he has no love for the Empire, I can tell you that." Han said and at that moment, Chewie barked over the intercom. Han quickly changed his readouts and stretched to look out the cockpit window.
"Here we go, Chewie. Stand by. Detach!" He said. Han leaned back in his chair and gave Octavia an invisible smile. She thought for a moment, shook her head; a grin spread across her face and she gave him the quickest kiss known to mankind.
"You do have your moments. Not many, but you have them." Octavia sighed.