The double sets of wings on Luke Skywalker's X-wing fighter were pulled together to
form one wing as the small, sleek craft streaked away from the planet of snow and ice.
    During his flight, the young commander had time to reflect on the events of the
past few days.  He now had time to ponder the enigmatic words of the ghostly Ben
Kenobi and think about his friendship with Han Solo, and also consider his tenuous
relationship with Leia Organa.  As he thought of the people he cared most about, he
arrived at a sudden decision.  Gazing back one last time at the small icy planet, he
told himself there was no longer any turning back.
    Luke flipped a number of switches on his control board and took the X-wing into
a steep turn.  He watched the heavens shift as he rocketed off in a new direction,
flying at top velocity.  He was bringing his craft back onto an even course when
Artoo, still snug in his specially designed socket, began to whistle and beep.
    The miniature computer installed in Luke's ship for translating the droid's
language flashed the small droid's message onto a control panel viewscreen.
    "There's nothing wrong, Artoo," Luke replied after reading the translation.
"I'm just setting a new course."
    The small droid beeped excitedly, and Luke turned to read the updated printout
on the viewscreen.
    "No," Luke replied, "we're not going to regroup with the others."
    This news startled Artoo, who immediately emitted a series of galvanic noises.
    "We're going to the Dagobah system," answered Luke.
    Again the robot beeped, calculating the amount of fuel carried by the X-wing.
    "We have enough power."
    Artoo gave vent to a longer, singsong series of toots and whistles.
    "They don't need us there," said Luke to the droid's question about the planned
Rebel rendezvous.
    Artoo then gently beeped a reminder about Princess Leia's order.  Exasperated,
the young pilot exclaimed, "I'm countermanding that order!  Now, be still."
    The little droid fell silent.  Luke was, after all, a commander in the Rebel
Alliance and, as such, could countermand orders.  He was making a few minor
adjustments on the controls when Artoo chirped up again.
    "Yes, Artoo," sighed Luke.
    This time the droid made a series of soft noises, selecting each beep and whistle
carefully.  He did not want to annoy Luke, but the findings on his computer were
important enough to report.
    "Yes, Artoo, I know the Dagobah system doesn't appear on any of our
navigational charts.  But don't worry.  It's there."
    Another worried beep from the R2 unit.
    "I'm very sure," the youth said, trying to reassure his mechanical companion.
"Trust me."
    Whether or not Artoo did trust the human being at the X-wing's controls, he only
vented a meek little sigh.  For a moment he was completely silent, as if thinking.
Then he beeped again.
    "Yes, Artoo?"
    This communication from the robot was even more carefully put forth than
before—one might even call the whistle-sentences tactful.  It seemed Artoo had no
intention of offending the human to whom he had entrusted himself.  But wasn't it
possible, the robot calculated, that the human's brain was slightly malfunctioning?
After all, he had lain a long time in the snowdrifts of Hoth.  Or, another possibility
computed by Artoo, perhaps the Wampa Ice Creature had struck him more seriously
than Too-Onebee had diagnosed?…
    "No," Luke answered, "no headache.  I feel fine.  Why?"
    Artoo's chirp was coyly innocent.
    "No dizziness, no drowsiness.  Even the scars are gone."
    The next whistle rose questioningly in pitch.
    "No, that's all right, Artoo.  I'd rather keep it on manual control for a while."
    Then the stout robot delivered a final whimper that sounded to Luke like a noise
of defeat.  Luke was amused by the droid's concern for his health.  "Trust me,
Artoo," Luke said with a gentle smile.  "I know where I'm going and I'll get us there
safely.  It's not far."

    Han Solo was desperate now.  The Falcon had still not been able to shrug off
the four TIE fighter or the enormous Star Destroyer that pursued it.
    Solo raced down to the ship's hold and began to work frantically on repairing the
malfunctioning hyperdrive unit.  It was all but impossible to carry out the delicate
repair work necessary while the Falcon shook with each blast of flak from the
fighters.
    Han snapped orders at his copilot, who checked the mechanisms as he was
commanded.  "Horizontal booster."
    The Wookiee barked.  It looked fine to him.
    "Alluvial damper."
    Another bark.  That part was also in place.
    "Chewie, get me the hydrospanners."
    Chewbacca rushed over to the pit with the tools.  Han grabbed the spanners,
then paused and looked at his faithful Wookiee friend.
    "I don't know how we're going to get out of this one," he confided.
    Just then a resounding thump hit the Falcon's side, making the ship pitch and
turn radically.
    Chewbacca barked anxiously.
    Han braced himself at the impact, the hydrospanners flew from his hand.  When
he managed to regain his balance, he shouted at Chewbacca over the noise, "That was
no laser blast!  Something hit us!"
    "Han…Han…" Princess Leia called to him from the cockpit.  She was frantic.
"Get up here!"
    Like a shot, he lurched out of the hold and raced back to the cockpit with
Chewbacca.  They were stunned by what they saw through the windows.
    "Asteroids!"
    Enormous chunks of flying rock hurtled through space as far as they could see.
As if those damn Imperial pursuit ships weren't trouble enough!
    Han instantly returned to his pilot's seat, once more taking over the Falcon's
controls.  His copilot settled himself back into his own seat just as a particularly
large asteroid sped by the prow of the ship.
    Han felt he had to stay as calm as possible; otherwise they might not last more
than a few moments.  "Chewie," he ordered, "set two-seven-one."
    Leia gasped.  She knew what Han's order meant and was stunned by so reckless
a plan.  "You're not thinking of heading into the asteroid field?" she asked, hoping
she had misunderstood his command.
    "Don't worry, they won't follow us through this!" he shouted with glee.
    "If I might remind you, sir," Threepio offered, trying to be a rational influence,
"the probability of successfully navigating through an asteroid field is approximately
two thousand four hundred and sixty-seven to one."
    No one seemed to hear him.
    Princess Leia scowled.  "You don't have to do this to impress me," she said, as
the Falcon was pummeled hard by another asteroid.
    Han was enjoying himself enormously and chose to ignore her insinuations.
"Hang on, sweetheart," he laughed, grasping the controls more tightly.  "We're
gonna do some flyin'."
    Leia winced and, resigned, buckled herself firmly into her seat.
    See-Threepio, still muttering calculations, shut down his synthesized human
voice when the Wookiee turned and growled at him.
    But Han concentrated only on carrying out his plan.  He knew it would work; it
had to—there was no other choice.  Flying more on instinct than on instruments, he
steered his ship through the relentless rain of stone.  Glancing quickly at his scanner
screens, he saw that the TIE fighters and the Avengers had not yet abandoned the
chase.  It would be an Imperial funeral, he thought, as he maneuvered the Falcon
through the asteroid hail.
    He looked at another viewscreen and smiled as it showed a collision between an
asteroid and a TIE fighter.  The explosion registered on the screen with a burst of
light.  No survivors in that one, Han thought.
    The TIE fighter pilots chasing the Falcon were among the best in the Empire.
But they couldn't compete with Han Solo.  Either they weren't good enough, or they
weren't crazy enough.  Only a lunatic would have plunged his ship into a suicidal
journey through these asteroids.  Crazy or not, these pilots had no choice but to
follow in hot pursuit.  They undoubtedly would be better off perishing in this
bombardment of rocks than reporting failure to their dark master.

    The greatest of all the Imperial Star Destroyers regally moved out of Hoth's orbit.
It was flanked by two other Star Destroyers and the entire group was accompanied by
a protective squadron of smaller warships.  In the central Destroyer, Admiral Piett
stood outside Darth Vader's private meditation chamber.  The upper jaw slowly
opened until Piett was able to glimpse his robed master standing in the shadows.
"My lord," Piett said with reverence.
    "Come in, Admiral."
    Admiral Piett felt great awe as he stepped into the dimly lit room and approached
the Dark Lord of the Sith.  His master stood silhouetted so that Piett could just barely
make out the lines of a set of mechanical appendages as they retracted a respirator
tube from Vader's head.  He shuddered when he realized that he might be the first
ever to have seen his master unmasked.
    The sight was horrifying.  Vader, his back turned to Piett, was entirely clothed
in black; but above his studded black neck ban gleamed his naked head.  Though the
admiral tried to avert his eyes, morbid fascination forced him to look at that hairless,
skull-like head.  It was covered with a maze of thick scar tissue that twisted around
against Vader's corpse-pale skin.  The thought crossed Piett's mind that there might
be a heavy price for viewing what no one else had seen.  Just then, the robot hands
grasped the black helmet and gently lowered it over the Dark Lord's head.
    His helmet back in place, Darth Vader turned to hear his admiral's report.
    "Our pursuit ship have sighted the Millennium Falcon, my lord.  It has entered
an asteroid field."
    "Asteroids don't concern me, Admiral," Vader said as he slowly clenched his fist.
"I want that ship, not excuses.  How long until you will have Skywalker and the
others in the Millennium Falcon?"
    "Soon, Lord Vader," the admiral answered, trembling in fear.
    "Yes, Admiral…" Darth Vader said slowly, "…soon."

    Two gigantic asteroids hurtled toward the Millennium Falcon.  Its pilot quickly
made a daring banking maneuver that brought it skirring out of the path of those two
asteroids, nearly to collide with a third.
    As the Falcon darted in and out of the asteroid field, it was followed closely by
three Imperial TIE fighters that veered through the rocks in hot pursuit.  Suddenly
one of the three was fatally scraped by a shapeless chunk of rock and spun off in
another direction, hopelessly out of control.  The other two TIE fighters continued
their chase, accompanied by the Star Destroyer Avenger, which was blasting speeding
asteroid in its path.
    Han Solo glimpsed the pursuing ships through the windows of his cockpit as he
spun his craft around, speeding under yet another oncoming asteroid, then bringing
the freighter back to its right-side-up position.  But the Millennium Falcon was not
yet out of danger.  Asteroids were still streaking past the freighter.  A small one
bounced off the ship with a loud, reverberating clang, terrifying Chewbacca and
causing See-Threepio to cover his eye lenses with a bronzed hand.
    Han glanced at Leia and saw that she was sitting stone-faced as she stared at the
swarm of asteroids.  It looked to him as if she wished she were thousands of miles
away.
    "Well," he remarked, "you said you wanted to be around when I was wrong."
    She didn't look at him.  "I take it back."
    "That Star Destroyer is slowing down," Han announced, checking his computer
readings.
    "Good," she replied shortly.
    The view outside the cockpit was still thick with racing asteroids.  "We're going
to get pulverized if we stay out here much longer," he observed.
    "I'm against that," Leia remarked dryly.
    "We've got to get out of this shower."
    "That make sense."
    "I'm going to get in closer to one of the big ones," Han added.
    That did not make sense.
    "Closer!" Threepio exclaimed, throwing up his metal arms.  His artificial brain
could scarcely register what his auditory sensors had just perceived.
    "Closer!" Leia repeated in disbelief.
    Chewbacca stared at his pilot in amazement and barked.
    None of the three could understand why their captain, who had risked his life the
save them all, would now try to get them killed!  Making a few simple adjustments
on the cockpit controls, Han swerved the Millennium Falcon between a few large
asteroids, then aimed the craft directly at one the size of a moon.
    A flashing shower of smaller rocks exploded against the enormous asteroid's
craggy surface as the Millennium Falcon, with the Emperor's TIE fighters still in
pursuit, flew directly above the asteroid.  It was like skimming over the surface of a
small planet, barren and devoid of all life.
    With expert precision, Han Solo steered his ship toward still another giant
asteroid, the largest one they had yet encountered.  Summoning all the skill that had
made his reputation known throughout the galaxy, he maneuvered the Falcon so that
the only object between it and the TIE fighters was the deadly floating rock.
    There was only a brief, brilliant flare of light, then nothing.  The shattered
remains of the two TIE fighters drifted away into the darkness and the tremendous
asteroid—undeflected in its course—continued on its way.
    Han felt an inner glow as bright as the spectacle that had just lighted up the view.
He smiled to himself in quiet triumph.
    Then he noticed an image on the main scope of his control console and nudged
his hairy copilot.  "There." Han pointed to the image.  "Chewie, get a reading on
that.  Looks pretty good."
    "What is it?" Leia asked.
    The Falcon's pilot ignored her question.  "That should do nicely," he said.
    As they flew near the asteroid's surface, Han looked down at the craggy terrain,
his eye caught by a shadowy area that looked like a crater of mammoth proportions.
He lowered the Falcon to surface level and flew it directly into the crater, its bowllike
walls suddenly rising up around his ship.
    And still two TIE fighters chased after him, firing their laser cannons and
attempting to mimic his every maneuver.
    Han Solo knew he had to be trickier and more daring if he was to lose the deadly
pursuit ships.  Spotting a narrow chasm through his windscreen, he banked the
Millennium Falcon to one side.  The ship soared sideways through the high-walled
rocky trench.
    Unexpectedly the two TIE fighters followed.  One of them even sparked as it
grazed the walls with its metal hull.
    Twisting, banking, and turning his ship, Han pressed through the narrow gorge.
From behind the black sky flared as the two TIE fighters crashed against one another,
then exploded against the rocky ground.
    Han reduced his speed.  He still wasn't safe from the Imperial hunters.
Searching about the canyon, he spotted something dark, a gaping cave mouth at the
very bottom of the crater, large enough to hold the Millennium Falcon—perhaps.  If
not, he and his crew would know soon enough.
    Slowing his hip, Han coursed into the cave entrance and through a large tunnel,
which he hoped would make the ideal hiding place.  He took a deep breath as his
ship was promptly devoured by the cave's shadows.

    A tiny X-wing was approaching the atmosphere of the Dagobah planet.
    As he neared the planet, Luke Skywalker was able to glimpse a portion of its
curved surface through a heavy cover of thick clouds.  The planet was uncharted and
virtually unknown.  Somehow Luke had made his way there, though he wasn't
certain whether it was his hand along that had guided his ship into this unexplored
sector of space.
    Artoo-Detoo, riding in the back of Luke's X-wing, scanned the passing stars,
then addressed his remarks to Luke via the computer scope.
    Luke read the viewscreen interpreter.  "Yes, that's Dagobah, Artoo," he
answered the little robot, then glanced out the cockpit window as the fighter ship
began to descend toward the planet's surface.  "Looks a little grim, doesn't it?"
    Artoo beeped, attempting for one last time to get his master back on a more
sensible course.
    "No," Luke replied, "I don't want to change my mind about this."  He checked
the ship's monitors and began to feel a bit nervous. "I'm not picking up any cities or
technology.  Massive life-form readings, though.  There's something alive down
there."
    Artoo was worried, too, and that was translated as an apprehensive inquiry.
    "Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids.  Will you take it easy?" Luke was
beginning to get annoyed.  "We'll just have to see what happens."
    He heard a pathetic electronic whimper from the rear of the cockpit.
    "Don't worry!"
    the X-wing sailed through the twilight halo separating pitch black space from the
planet's surface.  Luke took a deep breath, then plunged his craft into the white
blanket of mists.
    He couldn't see a thing.  His vision was entirely obstructed by the dense
whiteness pressing against the canopy windows of his ship.  His only choice was to
control his X-wing solely by instruments.  But the scopes weren't registering
anything, even as Luke flew ever nearer to the planet.  Desperately, he worked his
controls, no longer able to discern even so much as his altitude.
    When an alarm began to buzz, Artoo joined its clarion call with his own frantic
series of whistles and beeps.
    "I know, I know!" Luke shouted, still fighting the controls of his ship.  "All the
scopes are dead!  I can't see a thing.  Hang on, I'm going to start the landing cycle.
Let's just hope there's something underneath us."
    Artoo squealed again, but his sound were effectively frowned by the ear-splitting
blast of the X-wing's retrorockets.  Luke felt his stomach plunge as the ship began to
drop rapidly.  He braced against his pilot's seat, steeling himself for any possible
impact.  Then the ship lunged and Luke heard an awful sound as if the limbs of trees
were being snapped off by his speeding craft.
    When the X-wing finally screeched to a halt, it was with a tremendous jolt that
nearly flung its pilot through the cockpit window.  Certain, at last, that he was on the
ground, Luke slumped back in his chair and sighed with relief.  He then pulled a
switch that lifted his ship's canopy.  When he raised his head outside the ship to get
his first look at the alien world, Luke Skywalker gasped.
    The X-wing was completely surrounded by mists, its bright landing lights not
illuminating more than a few feet in front of it.  Luke's eyes gradually began to grow
accustomed to the gloom all around him so that he could just barely see the twisted
trunks and roots of grotesque-looking trees.  He pulled himself out of the cockpit as
Artoo detached his stout body from its cubbyhole plug.
    "Artoo," Luke said, "you stay put while I look around."
    The enormous gray tree had gnarled and intertwining roots that rose far above
Luke before they joined to form trunks.  He tilted back his head and could see the
branches, high above, that seemed to form a canopy with the low-hanging clouds.
Luke cautiously climbed out onto the long nose of his ship and saw that he had
crash-landed in a small, fog-shrouded body of water.
    Artoo emitted a short beep—then there was a loud splash, followed by silence.
Luke turned just in time to glimpse the droid's domed topside as it disappeared
beneath the water's foggy surface.
    "Artoo!  Artoo!" Luke called.  He kneeled down on the smooth hull of the ship
and leaned forward, anxiously searching for his mechanical friend.
    But the black waters were serene, revealing not a sign of the little R2 unit.
Luke could not tell how deep this still, murky pond might be; but it looked extremely
deep.  He was suddenly gripped by the realization that he might never see his droid
friend again.  Just then, a tiny periscope broke through the surface of the water and
Luke could hear a faint gurgling beep.
    What a relief!  Luke thought, as he watched the periscope make its way toward
shore.  He ran along the nose of his X-wing fighter, and when the shore line was less
than three meters away, the young commander jumped into the water and scrambled
up the shore.  He looked back and saw that Artoo was still making his way toward
the beach.
    "Hurry, Artoo!" Luke shouted.
    Whatever it was that suddenly moved through the water behind Artoo moved too
quickly and was too obscured by the mist for Luke to clearly identify it.  Al he could
see was a massive dark form.  This creature rose up for a moment, then dove beneath
the surface, making a loud bang against the little droid's metal hill. Luke heard the
robot's pathetic electronic scream for help.  Then, nothing…
    Luke stood there, horror-struck, as he continued to stare at the black waters, still
as death itself.  As he watched, a few tell-tale bubbles began to erupt at the surface.
Luke's heart began to pound in fear as he realized he was standing too near the pool.
But before he could move, the runt-size robot was spit out by the thing lurking
beneath the black surface.  Artoo made a graceful arc through the air and came
crashing down onto a soft patch of gray moss.
    "Artoo," Luke yelled, running to him, "are you okay?" Luke was grateful that the
shadowy swamp lurker apparently found metal droid neither palatable nor digestible.
    Feebly the robot replied with a series of faint whistles and beeps.
    "If you're saying coming here was a bad idea, I'm beginning to agree with you,"
Luke admitted, looking around at their dismal surroundings.  At least, he thought,
there was human companionship on the ice world.  Here, except for Artoo, there
seemed to be nothing but this murky bog—and creatures, as yet unseen, that might
lurk in the falling darkness.
    Dusk was quickly approaching.  Luke shivered in the thickening fog that closed
in on him like something alive.  He helped Artoo-Detoo back onto his feet, then
wiped away the swamp muck that covered the droid's cylindrical body.  As he
worked, Luke heard eerie and inhuman cries that emanated from the distant jungle
and shuddered as he imagined the beasts that might making them.
    By the time he finished clearing off Artoo, Luke observed that the sky had grown
noticeably darker.  Shadows loomed ominously all around him and the distant cries
didn't seem quite so far away anymore.  He and Artoo glanced around at the spooky
swamp-jungle surrounding them, then huddled a bit closer.  Suddenly, Luke noticed
a pair of tiny but vicious eyes winking at them through the shadowy underbrush, then
vanishing with a scutter of diminutive feet.
    He hesitated to doubt the advice of Ben Kenobi, but now he was beginning to
wonder if that robed specter had somehow made a mistake leading him to this planet
with its mysterious Jedi teacher.
    He looked over at his X-wing and groaned when he saw that the entire bottom
section was completely submerged in the dark water.  "How are we going to get that
thing flying again?"  The whole set of circumstances seemed hopeless and somewhat
ridiculous.  "What are we doing here?" he moaned.
    It was beyond the computerized abilities of Artoo to provide an answer for either
of these questions, but he made a little comforting beep anyway.
    "It's like part of a dream," Luke said.  He shook his head, feeling cold and
frightened.  "Or maybe I'm going crazy."
    At least, he knew for certain, he couldn't have gotten himself into a crazier
situation.