Summary: Something different happens to Luke in the trash compactor. Will he survive?
A/N: Wow, here I am with my second Star Wars fic. (I know I never finished my first one, but I had no idea what to do with it and so I orphaned it. Anyone got any ideas?)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(Less than a meter of life was left to the trapped occupants of the garbage room. Leia and Solo had been forced to turn sideways, had ended up facing each other. For the first time the haughtiness was gone from the Princess's face. Reaching out, she took Solo's hand, clutching it convulsively as she felt the first touch of the closing walls.
Luke had fallen and was lying on his side, fighting to keep his head above the rising ooze. He nearly choked on a mouthful of compressed sludge when his comlink began buzzing for attention.)
Star Wars: A New Hope-George Lucas
*~*~*
Luke tried to bring the comlink close enough to his mouth in order to talk into it, but his arm was pinned by the scrap metal. He tried to shift his body to enable him to keep his head above the muck, but his attempts were useless.
"Han!" Luke screamed in one last attempt to save everyone.
"Kid! Where are you?" Replied the smuggler, who was searching the mess of garbage for the youth.
"Here, underneath…metal…get comlink…Threepio…" Was all Luke could manage to say before the sludge reached his face.
"Luke! I don't see him. Ahh!" Leia stated, as more trash began to dig into her back.
"I see his arm. There's the comlink. I can't reach it." Han said, while struggling to get a hold of the comlink that Luke was holding.
"Luke, can you here me kid? Luke, try to keep talking." Solo pleaded, realizing that Luke had quit talking. As Han inched his body closer to where Luke had fallen, the walls still getting closer, when suddenly he was able to move again. Chewbacca had pulled the Princess away from him, enabling him to grab the comlink.
"I got it! Threepio, come in!" Han yelled, not hiding his excitement.
In the meantime, Luke was struggling for his life. As the ooze rose around his face, he managed to inhale a small amount of air. But that was almost a minute ago. Now, with his head completely submerged, he was out of oxygen. His reflexes soon took over, and he found himself trying to inhale, but all there was to breathe was the thick, brown water. He started to choke on the vile tasting stuff, but only found himself swallowing more.
"Threepio, shut down the garbage mashers on the detention level." Solo instructed the 'droid. A few seconds later there was a loud clanging and then the walls ceased their movement.
"Way to go Threepio!" Han praised.
"Tell him to open the door." The Princess instructed the pilot.
It took only another two seconds for the doors to be open, but that was a few seconds to late for Skywalker. His body had run out of oxygen moments before the 'droid had managed to get the compactor to stop. By the time the door had been open and Han, Chewie and Leia started moving objects to locate him, he was unconscious.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The end of chapter 1. I hope everyone enjoyed this. And, as always, may the Force be with you ~ Luke Skywalker