The Death Star had arrived in the Hoth system.

Tarkin stood in the main control room, flanked by Admiral Motti and General Tagge, as usual. On the viewscreen, the sixth planet grew steadily larger, and several ships could be seen in orbit of it. Even at this distance, they were recognizable as Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and the ominous shape of the Super Star Destroyer Executor loomed over them all. Also scattered around the planet were numerous floating piles of wreckage - Rebel transports that had been destroyed as they tried to escape. One of Tarkin's aides rushed in.

"We've received a report from Admiral Piett on the Executor," he said. "Their efforts to stop the Rebels from fleeing the planet before we got here were mostly successful. Several ships escaped, but a lot of them were stopped and destroyed."

"Undoubtedly the remaining Rebels have sought refuge in the surrounding systems," Tagge commented.

"Indeed. Perhaps it would be best to declare martial law on the surrounding systems, search them, and bring any Rebels hidden there to justice," Tarkin said. He had clearance from the Emperor to do whatever it took to find and wipe out the Rebels, so it would only be a matter of hours before his order was put into effect. "Now, once the last Imperial vessel has left Hoth, we will destroy it."

"Destroy that miserable little ice world?" Motti gasped, as if Hoth was so insignificant that it would be a waste of the Death Star's power to destroy it.

"Any Rebel strongholds, whether occupied or deserted, are to be destroyed," Tarkin snapped.

"All that's down there now are some unintelligent indigenous life forms," Motti retorted. "There's no one there that needs to be taught a lesson about harboring Rebels."

"This may be, but this will send a message to any other planets with Rebel sympathies," Tarkin fired back. "Alderaan, Yavin Four, Dantooine, Mon Calamari and now Hoth. The more planets we destroy that served as Rebel strongholds will insure that the Rebels will have an increasingly difficult time finding new hidden bases. In fact," Tarkin continued with a slight smile, "more planetary governments might be inclined to report any suspected Rebels attempting to set up bases on their planets, in order to spare their own worlds from the same fate."

Motti looked like he was going to snap back at Tarkin, but reconsidered at the last minute. Tarkin turned to the communications officer. "Send a message to Admiral Piett asking him to inform us when the last ship has left Hoth, and then inform him to move the fleet away from the planet."

* * *

Han and Chewie relaxed in a private lounge situated on the uppermost level of Cloud City. Han idly glanced out the window as a cloud car zipped past.

Their visit was going rather well, despite what had happened when they arrived. Lando had treated them to a excellent banquet, and the ship was almost finished. There were only two or three more things left to do, and then they'd be great shape. All of their problems, while not too far from their minds, had at least been pushed to the background for the time being.

Chewie barked a couple of times. Han grinned, then spoke.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It's nice not having to look over our shoulders right now, isn't it?"

Chewie hooted softly, then without warning the door slid open. Han and Chewie looked up as Lando entered the room. The look on Lando's face was grim.

"What's going on?" Han asked.

"We've got a problem," Lando said. "It's been reported that the Empire is declaring martial law on all of the systems immediately surrounding the Hoth system. Apparently the Rebel Alliance had a base there that was located and attacked by the Imps just a short while ago. That Death Star of theirs arrived in the system a short time ago and blew Hoth to bits."

Han said nothing. His mind flashed back to Yavin Four, and the guilt he still felt for being the unwitting pawn that led the Empire right to the hidden Rebel base there. Even though he knew that the Empire had not followed him this time, he still felt somewhat guilty. He hoped that the Rebels that were there had been able to evacuate the planet before the Death Star destroyed it.

"My guess is that the Empire thinks the Rebels have just moved to the next few closest systems, so they're declaring martial law so they can search for any survivors. Since we're fairly close to Hoth, we're expecting the Empire to arrive here shortly," Lando continued. "A lot of our residents are already making preparations to leave, and since I know that you two are still wanted by the Empire, I've ordered my mechanics to finish the repairs to the Falcon as quickly as possible so you can get out of here."

The feeling of safety that Han had been experiencing just a short while ago was now gone. He sighed.

"What about you? What do you plan to do?" Han asked.

"I'm going to stay here. I'm the Baron-Administrator, and as such my place is here."

"Are you nuts?" Han retorted. "The Empire knows about your history, and I guarantee they're not just going to leave you alone. You'll be lucky if they don't execute you outright for running this place under their noses."

"It's a chance I have to take," Lando said. "I can't abandon these people."

* * *

Slave I landed on Cloud City's East Platform. The gangplank lowered, and Boba Fett emerged from the ship, his rifle at the ready. Solo was here somewhere, and Fett meant to find him, capture him and bring him to Jabba. Anything else would be unacceptable. He would not let Solo slip through his fingers again. The door leading into the city slid open as he approached them. Inside, the man that had let Fett know that Han had arrived was waiting.

"Solo is currently heading for platform 327," the man whispered. "Repairs on his ship are nearly finished, and he is going to try to speed things up along with the Wookie and the Baron-Administrator. If you hurry, you can catch them before they get there."

Fett nodded, then headed for the nearest elevator.

* * *

Han, Lando, Chewie and Lobot walked through a corridor en route to the elevator that would take them to platform 327. Not a word was spoken between them. Han had further tried to convince Lando that staying here would be suicidal, but Lando would not listen. In disgust, Han finally gave up and left the lounge, intent on getting back to the Falcon.

The elevator was in sight. As they approached it, the door slid open... and to Han and Chewie's shock, Boba Fett emerged from the elevator.

"Fett!" Han shouted as he drew his blaster. Fett whipped up his rifle and took a shot at Han, who dodged out of the way and returned fire. Chewie unslung his bowcaster and started firing at Fett, while Lando and Lobot scrambled for cover. Lando pressed a few buttons on the wristpiece that he had, then shouted "Security to the main corridor now!" into it. Almost instantly a squadron of six Wing Guards appeared, saw what was happening, and began firing at Fett. An ordinary opponent would have been deterred by eight weapons being fired at them, but not Fett. He armed his wrist flamethrower and then sent a gout of flame blasting into the corridor. The Wing Guards split up, heading for cover. Han and Chewie backed out of range of the flame, and ran right into Lando and Lobot.

"This way!" Lando shouted. "We'll lose him in the interior of the city!"

They ran down the corridor, towards another elevator. Fett turned off the flamethrower as he saw them running back the way they'd come. Cursing silently to himself, he started to run after them - but so sooner had he started running, then the Wing Guards emerged from where they'd hidden and began firing at him. With no more than a backwards glance at them as the lasers ricocheted off of his armor, Fett fired a concussion grenade over his shoulder. He heard the lasers stop firing, and then the sound of the Wing Guards running in all directions. Ahead he could see the doors of the elevator closing. He activated his rocket pack, flew down the corridor to the elevator, then wrenched the door open.

The car was already halfway down the shaft. Without a moment's hesitation, Fett jumped down the shaft after it. Almost immediately after he jumped down the shaft, the corridor he'd just left was filled with a tremendous explosion. A ball of fire exploded through the open elevator door above him and blackened the far wall.

Fett activated his rocket pack to control his descent, and with a thud landed on top of the car. He pointed his wrist lasers at the top of the car and adjusted the setting to where they would form a cutting beam, rather than a series of blasts. As he prepared to fire, the car lurched to a stop.

Quickly he cut a hole in the roof of the car. As soon as he was done cutting, he kicked the area he'd cut, causing a large piece of the roof to fall into the car. He jumped down through the still smoking opening he'd created, rifle at the ready.

The car was empty. Fett cursed and opened the door.

* * *

Han and Lando heard the elevator door open behind them as they ran down the left half of the corridor. Chewie and Lobot had gone in the opposite direction. As Fett emerged from the elevator, he glimpsed Han out of the corner of his eye. Without a second thought, he snapped up his rifle and fired. The laser bolt missed, and Han returned fire as he followed Lando down the corridor. Fett dodged the blast, and started to pursue them.

"This way!" Lando shouted as he ducked into an open door. Han followed him, and the door slid shut behind them.

* * *

The door to the room that they had entered slid open at Fett's approach. Fett jumped inside, scanning the area for any trace of either Han or Lando. The only thing he saw was an opening in the ceiling, with a platform underneath it. Fett stepped onto the platform, which then rose up to the opening. Fett found himself standing in an enormous chamber. In the center of the chamber was a platform, covered by glowing orange light panels, with a large pit in the middle of it. Lit stairs ringed the platform. Hanging from the ceiling were all sorts of hoses, of every shape and size. In the center of the ceiling, hanging above the pit, were a giant set of clamps. The whole chamber was dark, except for the light panels on the platform and the lights on the stairs.

It was a carbon freezing chamber, he suddenly realized. Fett smiled behind his mask. If he could somehow lure Solo into the pit, he could freeze him and transport him to the Hutt with no problem. The question was, where was Solo hiding?

* * *

From his hiding place, Lando saw Fett enter the chamber. Han was across the room, undoubtedly obseving Fett's every move, just as he was. In his hand was a blaster he'd collected from a hidden area in the chamber - one of the many secret stores of weapons scattered across the city that only he knew about. He raised it and aimed at Fett, but held his fire. He knew that the minute he took a shot at Fett, he would be targeted, so he'd have to move quickly.

Fett turned his head directly away from Lando's hiding place. The time was right - Lando squeezed off a shot at Fett, then ran for cover. The blaster bolt pinged off Fett's armor. Fett whirled and fired a rapid sucession of shots in the direction the blast had come from. He started to move toward the direction the shot had come from, when a blaster bolt came from behind him and scored a direct hit on his backpack. Fett twisted around and fired in the direction the shot had come from.

Suddenly he was tackled from behind! Lando had taken advantage of the distraction Han had created and was on top of Fett before the armor's internal sensors had even registered his approach. Fett's rifle flew out of his grasp as Lando's momentum carried them near the edge of the pit. They hit the floor of the chamber with a resounding clank. Fett kicked free of Lando, and started to rise to his feet.

That's when a quick succession of blaster bolts pinned him down. Han strode down the steps of the chamber, firing as he came, while Lando hastily scrambled backwards. As Han reached Fett, he prepared to fire at point blank range. Fett, anticipating Han's next move, dove towards Han and grabbed for his legs. The two of them went down, struggling. Their momentum carried them to the edge of the pit.

Han shook free of Fett's grasp, and rolled over onto his back. As Fett started to rise, Han aimed a kick at Fett's helmet. Stunned by the impact, Fett fell to his knees. Han scrambled to his feet, and without a word, aimed another kick at Fett's helmet. With a slight moan, Fett fell backwards, into the pit. Han stepped back as Lando, who had raced to the control panel that activated the freezing process, pulled a switch in front of him.

Fiery metal started to cascade into the pit, and steam started billowing from hidden vents in the chamber. Han took a deep breath as the process continued. After a minute or two, a shrill alarm began sounding as the clamps suddenly descended into the pit. Han watched as the clamps pulled a large, box-like object out of the pit. Lando walked down to stand beside him as the opening of the pit closed, and the object was set on the panel that now covered the pit. The clamps retracted, leaving the object standing there. Lando stepped up to the side of the object and pushed a sequence of buttons next to one of the display panels. Then, he moved in front of the object and pushed it so that it fell over.

Fett's outline could be seen emerging from the object. His helmet was raised, like he was looking up, and his arms were raised above it, like he was trying to ward off the metal that had poured down on him. To Han, Fett now looked like an unfinished sculpture. Han shuddered... he could not imagine what it would be like to be frozen inside a block of carbonite.

Lando kneeled down next to the carbonite block and checked the readouts on the display panels.

"Is he alive?" Han asked.

Lando studied the readouts for another few seconds, then spoke.

"Yes, he's alive... and in perfect hibernation."

Han sighed in relief. Fett may still be alive, but there was no way Fett would be able to follow him now - or ever again, if no one ever found him. Sure, Jabba might send other bounty hunters after him, but none were as skilled as Fett was. Han felt confident that he'd be able to overcome any bounty hunter sent after him from now on.