Alarms blared through the interiors of all three Star Destroyers. These ponderously massive ships could not respond quickly enough to such emergencies.
Sluggishly one of the Destroyers began to move to the left in its effort to avoid collision with the Avenger. Unfortunately, as it veered, it brushed its companion ship, violently shaking up both spaceborne fortresses. The damaged Destroyers began to drift through space, while the Avenger continued in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon and its obviously insane pilot.
Two down, Han thought. But there was still a quartet of TIE fighters tailing the Falcon, blasting at its stern with full laser fire, but Han thought he could outstrip them.
The ship was buffeted violently by the fighters’ laser blasts, forcing Leia to hold on in a desperate attempt to keep her seat.
"That slowed them down a bit!" Han exulted. "Chewie, stand by to make the jump to light-speed." There was not a moment to waste—the laser attack was intense now, and the TIE fighters were almost on top of them.
"They’re very close," Leia warned, finally able to speak.
Han looked at her with a wicked glint in his eyes. "Oh, yeah? Watch this." He threw the hyperspace throttle forward, desperate to escape, but also eager to impress the princess with both his own cleverness and his ship’s fantastic power.
Nothing happened! The stars that should by then have been mere blurs of light were still. Something was definitely wrong.
"Watch what?" Leia asked impatiently.
Instead of responding, Han worked the light-speed controls a second time.
Again, nothing. "I think we’re in trouble," he muttered. His throat tightened. He knew "trouble" was a gross understatement.
"If I may say so, sir," Threepio volunteered, "I noticed earlier that the entire main para-light system seemed to have been damaged." Chewbacca threw back his head and let out a loud and miserable wail.
"We’re in trouble!" Han repeated.
All around them, the laser attack had increased violently. The Millennium Falcon could only continue at its maximum sublight velocity as it moved deeper into space, closely followed by a swarm of TIE fighters and one gigantic Imperial Star Destroyer.