She flipped the Falcon on her side and continued in the only direction she could, straight between the two halves of the Nova’s broken spine. The gap vanished behind a cloud of frozen atmosphere. Dark blurs began to flash past too quickly to identify, and the impact alarm sounded continuously as they plowed their way through the flotsam.
“I certainly hope the particle shields don’t fail us now,” C-3PO said, clanking to his knees. “One of those frozen bodies could cause a catastrophic hull breach!”
They emerged from the vapor cloud into a pocket of relative calm behind two wrecked Battle Dragons. The main part of the fleet was barely visible ahead, a field of blue efflux circles exchanging dashes of color with an enemy fleet too distant to spot visually. Han let out a sigh of relief. “You see? Nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about?” Morwan released her chair arms and turned to Han with a half-accusatory glare, “We were ambushed! The Royal Navy was waiting for us.”
Han met her gaze with his best sabacc face. “Yeah, it’s almost Hke they knew the reversion coordinates. Wonder how that happened?”
Morwan’s eyes narrowed. “So do I, Captain Solo.” They passed the wrecked Battle Dragons, and the Falcon’s canopy darkened against fresh blossoms of nearby turbolaser strikes.
“I hate to interrupt,” Leia said with her usual perfect timing. “But I need that tactical display back up. Even Jedi can’t see through this much battle fire.”
The suspicion in Morwan’s eyes changed to fear, and her attention returned to the sensor panel. “I’ve been trying. All I get is one long burst of screen snow.”
“It’s all this turbolaser fire,” C-3PO said from behind her. “You need to bring up the filters.”
“Filters?” Morwan sounded confused. “How do I do that?”
“You call yourself a pilot?” Han grumbled. “How did you ever find Telkur Station?”
“I was flying a Batag Skiff,” Morwan answered, as though the name explained everything. “The sensors have automatic filters.”
“Automatic filters?” Han shook his head. “What will they put in spacecraft next? Heated seats and cockpit caf dispensers?”
He unbuckled and stepped into the gap between the pilot’s and copilot’s seats, then leaned in front of Morwan to activate the electromagnetic discharge filters. “They’re on glide-switches, starting with radio waves and going all the way up to gamma rays.”
As Han explained this, he pushed the glides up, reducing the amount of static. Gradually, a clear image appeared on the tactical display. The usurper fleet was in even worse shape than he had imagined, with large gaps in the assault formation and a quarter of the Hapan Royal Navy pouring fire into the Kendall,
“Looks like you lucked out staying with us,” Han said, removing his hand from the filter glides. “AlGray’s flagship is taking quite a pounding.”
“Yes.” Morwan caught Han’s arm and held him in front of her. “I think we both know why that is.”
Something small jabbed Han in the side, and he looked down to find a small hold-out blaster pressed to his ribs.
“You think I had something to do with it?” The anger in Han’s voice was genuine-and mostly with himself for letting Morwan get the drop on him. “Of all the ungrateful she-Hutts…”
“Save it, Solo!” Morwan ordered. “You really don’t want to heat my jets more than you have. I’m already furious with myself for not seeing through you two from the start.”
“Seeing through us how?” Leia asked. The Falcon decelerated and banked as she turned away from the battle. “And I’d be very careful with that blaster. I’ve been known to lose my temper with people who shoot my husband.”
“And you really don’t want to see Leia lose her temper,” Han said, doing his best to keep his body in front of Morwan’s face. As soon as Leia had said shoot, C-3PO had started to creep toward the back of the flight deck, probably intending to sneak down the access corridor to fetch Cakhmaim and Meewalh. “Ever since she became a Jedi, when she gets mad, things just start flying at you from all directions.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Captain Solo. Your fate rests entirely in the Princess’s hands.” Morwan was speaking from under Han’s arm, since she continued to hold him in front of her. “I won’t blast you if she turns back toward the battle.”
Leia continued to bank away. “What for?”
“Because she doesn’t want it to look suspicious when we send Tenel Ka another message,” Han said, glancing down at the tactical display. Protected by their powerful shields and multilayered hulls, two Corellian Dreadnaughts were continuing to press the attack, with what remained of the usurper fleet close behind. “She wants to tell Tenel Ka to tighten up and hold her position.”