Warning!!!: This is a work in progress!!
Title: Mistaken Identity Author: Adria Skye Rating: PG (Violence) Time line: Between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back." Disclaimer: The only thing that belongs to me is the wormhole...but I'm not sure I want that... Feedback: Maybe I'll finish it if you give me some....mwhaha!
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away...
Chapter One
Han Solo entered the lounge of the Millennium Falcon. Flopping into a chair, he looked at his chrono. "We'll be at Hoth in about three hours," he announced.
Luke Skywalker nodded; his attention was focused on the remote in front of him. He had his helmet on with the blast shield down and was deflecting laser bolts the hovering sphere sent his way.
Leia Organa, absorbed in her datapad of information on the afore-said planet, looked up, caught Han's gaze, and also nodded.
Chewbaca didn't answer. He was preoccupied with trying to repair the corridor's overhead glowpanels.
R2-D2 and Colleen-3PO were engrossed in a game of dejarik. Threepio answered for both of them. "That is splendid, Captain Solo."
Sent on a mission to Hoth by the Rebellion, Han, Chewie, Leia, Luke, Threepio, and Artoo were to scout out the planet in hopes of finding it suitable for the next rebel base, since the Imperials had discovered their last one on Yavin 4.
About to get up and leave again on the pretense of finding them all something to eat, Han instead sprinted for the cockpit as suddenly alarms started blaring, warning lights flashed, and the ship jerked violently. Closely followed by his first mate, Chewie, they made it just in time to see six TIE fighters scream past the viewport. They had obviously been pulled out of hyperspace, but Hoth was nowhere in sight. In fact, there were no planets to be seen anywhere.
"Hey Kid!" Han yelled, turning back in the direction of the lounge. He almost ran into Luke and the rest of his makeshift crew on his way to the ladder that led to the Falcon's two quad laser cannons. "You take the top, I got the bottom." With that, he descended the ladder. Donning his headset, something clicked in Han's brain. TIE fighters don't come equipped with a hyperdrive. And that meant... "Hey Your Worship!" He practically yelled into the comm, as an explosion rocked the ship. "C'mon baby, stay together," Han muttered under his breath.
"What laser brains?" Leia asked, slightly agitated by his use of her exaggerated title.
"Can you see the mother ship from there?"
"Hang on," Leia answered. "Yeah. Looks like a Victory class Star Destroyer. Wait a minute, there's an Interdictor Cruiser over there too." Han heard a muffled growl from the cockpit. "Hey! Chewie just spotted another wave of fighters coming your way!"
Having just finished dispatching the first batch, Luke sighed and Han growled.
"There's a transmission coming through, I'm patching it into this system.
Before he could reply, Han heard static, then, "Unidentified light freighter, this is Captain Avis Trent of the Imperial Star Destroyer, Iron Scepter. Transmit ID code and do not attempt to damage your next escort, or you will be destroyed...." The captain continued but Han ordered him to be cut off.
"Chewie?" A roar met his inquiry and Han started forming his plan. "Try to get us out of the Interdictor's range and --" He was interrupted when Chewie growled and Threepio started to translate. "Master Chewbacca says -- "
"Shut up, Goldenrod!" On the other end, Chewie continued. "Wait a minute," Han interrupted. "Our sublight engines were damaged and are now only capable of half their former speed?" An affirmative from the other end. "And the Interdictor is closing in on us?" Another affirmative. "You see any other way out?" Yet another affirmative, only this time from Leia.
"Looks like there's some type of wormhole or something off to the starboard side. Want to try that?"
"Guess it's our only option. Go ahead Chewie," Then as an after thought he added, "I have a bad feeling about this." As he said this another Star Destroyer appeared. "GO CHEWIE!!"
Chewie navigated the injured freighter into the wormhole. The Iron Scepter followed.
They exited on the other side. Luke noticed that the Star Destroyer had stopped spitting TIE fighters at them. "Hey Han," he said over the comm.
"What Kid?"
"The Imperials stopped sending 'escorts',"
"So they did. Come on let's get back to the cockpit. But keep your eyes peeled. These Imperials are the slippery type." As they reached their destination, Chewie vacated the pilot's seat. Han seated himself in it, while Chewie took his place at the co-pilot's more familiar controls.
The Imperials fired on them and the Falcon bucked. Silencing the alarms the shot had managed to rouse, Han tried to coax more speed out of his precious "bucket of bolts". They picked up a little more and the Imperials fired on them again, they were out of range -- for now.
"Chewie," Han ordered. "See what those alarms were all about this time. I'm gonna see if I can find us a planet in this system we can put down on."
Leia pointed to a small rock floating in front of them to the port side. "What about that one?"
"Let me run a check on it here,... uh, no habitable atmosphere...zip technology...and absolutely no life. Hang on running a check on other planets -- If there are any -- OK, computer says eight other planets in system....One with habitable atmosphere...not much technology although there is lots of life.... Let's try to contact them." Then he suddenly sat up straighter as if he had an idea. Han turned to Leia, "Your Highness," He said. "You're the diplomat, why don't you contact the planet?" That earned him a glare, but she did reach for the comm unit.
Chewie, having finished his research interrupted. Leia stopped to listen. He growled his list of needed repairs.
"Oh dear!" stated a flustered Threepio. "Whatever shall we do?"
Han translated for everyone else. "We already knew that the sublight engines are only capable of half their normal speed. Now our landing gear is non-existent and the comm dish has been fried along with all the front and half of the rear repulsorlifts."
At this Artoo emitted a long, low, sad-sounding whistle.
"What?!?!" Luke asked incredulously.
"You heard the man," Leia said irritably. "He said that --"
"One more thing," Han interrupted. "Life support systems are only going to last us another two hours."
Everybody groaned.
"At least the Imperials seem to be content with just following us," Luke commented.
"Thank the Maker!" Threepio exclaimed.
Chapter Two
An hour and a half later, they where entering the atmosphere. That did not pose a problem. Then it came to landing. They skimmed over the treetops for ten minutes looking for a landing pad or at least a clearing. Not finding one, they gave up.
"Well, anybody got any ideas?" Han asked. Hearing no response to his question, he ordered everyone to put on their restraints. "Here goes. OK, Chewie, slowly back off power to the sublight engines. That's it. Alright everybody, hang on." He activated the repulsors they still had. It only succeeded in making thing worse. The Falcon did a nosedive into the jungle. Everybody was pitched forward in their seats. Leaves, vines, flowers, branches, and birds filled the viewport. Luckily the transparastel managed to stay intact.
"Everybody OK?" Han asked dazed. Minus a couple of dents on Threepio, everyone was fine.
"Well come on, let's get out of here. Artoo, we'll probably need your scanners." The droid in question whistled something that sounded like an affirmative. "Kid, got your lightsaber?" Luke held the object up in his hand in response. Han checked his own weapon. "Chewie," He addressed the Wookiee rummaging through the weapons compartment above the cockpit. "Get the Princess here a blaster," After forwarding the weapon to Leia, he asked half seriously, "Know how to use it Your Worship?"
"Yes, Han," she said, irritated, rolling her eyes.
He repeating the gesture of annoyance. "Chewie, I need you to stay here and guard the ship," Chewie responded with a roar. "Everybody else, follow me."
*~*~*
"Hey Dad!" Dr. Indiana Jones yelled. He entered the tent he shared with his father, leaving the flap open.
"What is it Junior?" asked his father Dr. Henry Jones. Indy just rolled his eyes at his father's title for him.
"Did you see that over there?" Indy asked, pointing skyward and a little to their left.
"See what Junior?" his father asked, even though he was obviously completely oblivious as to what his son was talking about.
"Over there," Indy repeated, pointing again. "It looked like a meteor or something."
"What? I'm sorry Junior, I didn't catch all that," Henry finally looked up from the notes he was absorbed in.
"Never mind Dad."
Indy's father went back to scouring over his research on the part of Africa they had both been frequenting as of late.
Indy and his father had heard of an excavation that had been going on in an African jungle for some years now. Looking into it further, they decided to go join in the effort. They were uncovering an ancient city of the natives that had not been unearthed for centuries. A week after they joined the company, Indy had discovered a temple and statue the natives had erected in honor of one of their gods. It was in perfect condition, everything inside had somehow been sealed off from the volcanic ash that had covered the city and things were only a little dusty. The temple contained a hold, which in turn contained a fortune in gold. Everything they found suggested that the ancient civilization had been very rich. The statue itself was made of gold and jewels.
In other words they had found everything except what they had come looking for.
Indy's translator at his last excavation site, which was in a nearby country, had told him stories of an ancient crystal. Of how a centuries old tribe in the area would pass it down from leader to leader. It was rumored to have special powers. Whoever was in possession of it eventually became rich and powerful.
"Hey Dad," Indy said again. This time he waited until his father looked up from his notes.
"Yes Junior?"
Indy resisted the urge to stomp his foot in frustration. "Dad, I wish you would stop calling me that."
"Why? It's your name isn't it?" the elder Jones asked patiently.
"Wish it wasn't," Indy muttered.
"What was that son?"
"Nothing Dad." He sighed, yet again giving up in his attempts to convince his father to stop calling him by the nickname he considered childish.
"That's what I thought. Now what were you going to tell me?" Henry asked, a slight smirk his only acknowledgment of Indy's concession.
Indy took his rifle out from under his cot in their tent. "I'm going to investigate what looks like a meteorite that just hit."
"OK. Be back in time for dinner. Oh, and watch out for the snakes, Junior. I heard there were some pretty poisonous ones out here."
"Don't worry Dad. I will." Then he added quietly as he exited the tent, "I hate it when he calls me that."
*~*~*
"I'm going to go ahead and scout. You guys rest here for a while. If I'm not back in thirty minutes, come find me."
"Han," Leia said hesitantly.
"Yes Princess?" Han replied. He checked his blaster for the hundredth time in the last hour.
"Be...Just be careful OK?"
"Yes Your Majesty," He gave her a mock bow, and barely managed to duck the leafy twig she threw his way.
"Get your sorry self out of here before I do something I'll regret later."
He left quickly.
*~*~*
Indy was making his way through the jungle, slowly. It had been a while since his last trek and he had forgotten how hard and tiring it could be to fight his way through the vines and underbrush with a machete.
He cut away through a particularly nasty vine and stopped for a minute's rest. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he turned and looked around him. And come face to face with a huge pale yellow snake wrapped around a nearby branch. Indy stepped back, horrified; he hated snakes. Feeling something soft and squishy under his foot, he looked down, only to discover another snake, but this time it was a little smaller and not so yellow. He let out a yell as the thing bit him right through his boot.
Indy raised his rifle, shot the snake, and shook himself loose. Then he started limping toward camp hearing in his head what his father was going to have to say about this. He made it about thirty feet before collapsing.
*~*~*
A twig snapped somewhere behind him. Han whirled around, blaster in hand. Whatever it was he couldn't see it. He decided to just keep moving.
He had walked for another two minutes then turned around again when he heard another twig snap. Completing his one-eighty, Han found himself looking down the barrel of very ancient, very wicked, foreign looking weapon that resembled his own blaster.
"Stop right there, Dr. Jones," Han didn't recognize the face, the voice, or the accent. The man was human as far as he could tell and wearing what looked like some type of uniform. He continued, "Drop your weapon. Don't try anything stupid or I might be forced to kill you." The man topped his speech with an evil grin.
Han pulled his blaster out of it's holster. He decided to take the uniformed man's advice and not try anything - yet. He dropped the blaster on the ground beside him.
"Very good Dr. Jones. Now follow me, there's someone who's waiting to see you."
Han didn't want to see who or what was waiting to see "him". "I'm not Dr. Jones."
A second man stepped from the shadows. "You won't be for much longer." He said. Han noticed that this second man was wearing a similar uniform to that of the first man. Both sported a strange symbol: a red background, a white circle, and a strange black symbol in the middle of the circle. He guessed these men were some kind of soldiers.
But he wasn't going to wait around to find out. The second man's weapon was still holstered. It looked almost exactly like the first man's weapon. If he could just get a hold of it.... Han started formulating his plan.
Before either of the officers knew what was happening, Han decked the first one. The blow laid him flat. The second officer stood stock still, mouth hanging open. Han took advantage of the soldier's shock, grabbing his weapon and sweeping his feet out from under him. Making sure both of them looked out of it enough for him to make a break for it. he ran headlong into the jungle. He wasn't making much progress.
Remembering the weapon, he gave it a once over. It had almost the same controls as his blaster.
Han broke through the trees into a small trail of broken branches and cut vines. He stopped. It looked like someone had been through recently. The path went in two directions, choosing one, he started running again. Hearing the sound of running feet behind him, Han quickened his pace.
He turned around only long enough to fire his weapon. It made an extremely loud noise compared to his blaster. Missed. He heard the report of the man behind him's weapon as something whizzed past his ear.
He could see sunlight coming from what looked like a clearing up ahead. Just before he reached it, he turned and fired his weapon again. And missed, again. Han broke into the clearing. As he turned to fire again, a searing pain shot through his left side, spinning him further around. He fired his weapon one last time. Before he blacked out, he thought he saw the soldier fall.
Chapter Three
"Han's been gone for a while. Think we should go look for him?" Luke voiced the same thoughts that had been running through Leia's head.
She checked her chrono again. Han had been gone for 35 standard minutes. "Well he's five minutes overdue. I guess so."
The two of them -- plus Threepio and Artoo -- headed into the jungle. They went in the direction they had last seen Han heading. It was slow going, even though there was already a trail, Artoo and Threepio had trouble getting through. Eventually Luke pulled out his lightsaber and cleared the way. After that things went a little more smoothly - until they reached a fork in the path.
Luke was the first to comment. "Oh great, now what?"
"We could split up. But considering this isn't familiar turf, I don't think that would be a very good idea." Luke agreed with her. "Artoo," Leia continued. "Can you use your scanners here?" The astromech droid whistled. The scanner popped up out of the little droid's head and stared spinning. When it suddenly stopped, the droid beeped and whistled frantically.
Threepio translated. "Artoo says he has detected a life form not far north of here. He thinks it may be Captain Solo."
*~*~*
Henry Jones pulled his pocket watch out of his vest. "He has been gone far too long," He said to himself. "I best go look for him." Putting down his research he sighed. His son sure had a knack for getting into trouble. Always had for that matter. Henry could remember many a time when his son had wondered off somewhere only to return with a broken bone or some foreign illness.
Henry exited the tent and scanned the parameters of the camp. There. Wait a minute, it was his quarry alright, but he was on the ground. The next thing Henry knew, he was kneeling on the ground in front of his son who had a bullet wound in his side. It was bleeding profusely and looked like it had been for sometime.
Picking up his injured charge, Henry wondered allowed. "Junior, where in the world did those clothes come from?"
*~*~*
"Han?" Luke yelled running ahead. They had spotted him at the end of the path.
Leia was at his heels, the droids following at a much slower pace. "Where in the world's did those clothes come from?" Luke never answered her question. He was too busy with Han. Leaving Leia to either look over his shoulder or deal with the droids. She choose the latter.
"Looks like something bit him," Luke voiced his findings.
"What do you think it was?"
"Some kind of snake probably."
"Yeah guess your right."
In a joint effort, they carried him back to the ship together.
*~*~*
Indy awoke as something pricked his arm. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, glad you could join us." The voice belonged to a very beautiful woman.
"Who are you?" Indy asked.
"Oh great, don't tell me you have amnesia now too," The woman rolled her eyes.
"I don't think so, but you didn't answer my question," He began to sit up. At the same time as a wave of dizziness hit him, the woman pushed him back down.
"I wouldn't do that. That antidote tends to have side effects."
"Great. Wait. Antidote for what? Where am I? And who are you?!?"
"Antidote for the venom that entered your system when that snake bit you. I'm Leia, and your Falcon."
"Falcon?"
"You think you'd recognize the name of your own ship, Han."
"Han? Now what are you talking about?"
"You."
"Uh, no. I don't think so. I think you've got me mixed up with someone else." He tried again to get up. "I don't think so, pal."
"Look lady, I don't know who you think you are, but I only take orders from one person, me."
"Huh. Sounds familiar. You're staying right here, Han," She turned in the direction of the lounge. "Luke!" She called.
Luke stuck his head in the doorway. "Yeah, Leia? Oh, Hey Han. Feeling better?"
"Sure. Look, I don't know who this "Han" is, but I'm Indiana Jones and I had better get back to camp before my father comes looking for me." Indy tried yet again to get up.
"I wouldn't do that..." Leia pointed to a pile of garments laying on a sleepcouch across the room.
Indy's face reddened and he fell back into the bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin. "Fine! I give up!"
*~*~*
The Iron Scepter landed in large clearing in the middle of the jungle. Someone had seen their prey crash land nearby. The captain sent troops out to search for survivors.
*~*~*
Henry Jones woke up. He glanced at his pocket watch. The moonlight that entered the tent by way of the flap illuminated it. Still the middle of the night.
He arose to see what had wakened him. His son was still unconscious. He opened the tent flap all the way. Nothing. "Wait a minute," he spotted something off in the jungle. "Looks like a campfire."
Henry quickly got dressed. He grabbed his rifle and went to check things out. Leaving the tent open by accident.
Title: Mistaken Identity Author: Adria Skye Rating: PG (Violence) Time line: Between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back." Disclaimer: The only thing that belongs to me is the wormhole...but I'm not sure I want that... Feedback: Maybe I'll finish it if you give me some....mwhaha!
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away...
Chapter One
Han Solo entered the lounge of the Millennium Falcon. Flopping into a chair, he looked at his chrono. "We'll be at Hoth in about three hours," he announced.
Luke Skywalker nodded; his attention was focused on the remote in front of him. He had his helmet on with the blast shield down and was deflecting laser bolts the hovering sphere sent his way.
Leia Organa, absorbed in her datapad of information on the afore-said planet, looked up, caught Han's gaze, and also nodded.
Chewbaca didn't answer. He was preoccupied with trying to repair the corridor's overhead glowpanels.
R2-D2 and Colleen-3PO were engrossed in a game of dejarik. Threepio answered for both of them. "That is splendid, Captain Solo."
Sent on a mission to Hoth by the Rebellion, Han, Chewie, Leia, Luke, Threepio, and Artoo were to scout out the planet in hopes of finding it suitable for the next rebel base, since the Imperials had discovered their last one on Yavin 4.
About to get up and leave again on the pretense of finding them all something to eat, Han instead sprinted for the cockpit as suddenly alarms started blaring, warning lights flashed, and the ship jerked violently. Closely followed by his first mate, Chewie, they made it just in time to see six TIE fighters scream past the viewport. They had obviously been pulled out of hyperspace, but Hoth was nowhere in sight. In fact, there were no planets to be seen anywhere.
"Hey Kid!" Han yelled, turning back in the direction of the lounge. He almost ran into Luke and the rest of his makeshift crew on his way to the ladder that led to the Falcon's two quad laser cannons. "You take the top, I got the bottom." With that, he descended the ladder. Donning his headset, something clicked in Han's brain. TIE fighters don't come equipped with a hyperdrive. And that meant... "Hey Your Worship!" He practically yelled into the comm, as an explosion rocked the ship. "C'mon baby, stay together," Han muttered under his breath.
"What laser brains?" Leia asked, slightly agitated by his use of her exaggerated title.
"Can you see the mother ship from there?"
"Hang on," Leia answered. "Yeah. Looks like a Victory class Star Destroyer. Wait a minute, there's an Interdictor Cruiser over there too." Han heard a muffled growl from the cockpit. "Hey! Chewie just spotted another wave of fighters coming your way!"
Having just finished dispatching the first batch, Luke sighed and Han growled.
"There's a transmission coming through, I'm patching it into this system.
Before he could reply, Han heard static, then, "Unidentified light freighter, this is Captain Avis Trent of the Imperial Star Destroyer, Iron Scepter. Transmit ID code and do not attempt to damage your next escort, or you will be destroyed...." The captain continued but Han ordered him to be cut off.
"Chewie?" A roar met his inquiry and Han started forming his plan. "Try to get us out of the Interdictor's range and --" He was interrupted when Chewie growled and Threepio started to translate. "Master Chewbacca says -- "
"Shut up, Goldenrod!" On the other end, Chewie continued. "Wait a minute," Han interrupted. "Our sublight engines were damaged and are now only capable of half their former speed?" An affirmative from the other end. "And the Interdictor is closing in on us?" Another affirmative. "You see any other way out?" Yet another affirmative, only this time from Leia.
"Looks like there's some type of wormhole or something off to the starboard side. Want to try that?"
"Guess it's our only option. Go ahead Chewie," Then as an after thought he added, "I have a bad feeling about this." As he said this another Star Destroyer appeared. "GO CHEWIE!!"
Chewie navigated the injured freighter into the wormhole. The Iron Scepter followed.
They exited on the other side. Luke noticed that the Star Destroyer had stopped spitting TIE fighters at them. "Hey Han," he said over the comm.
"What Kid?"
"The Imperials stopped sending 'escorts',"
"So they did. Come on let's get back to the cockpit. But keep your eyes peeled. These Imperials are the slippery type." As they reached their destination, Chewie vacated the pilot's seat. Han seated himself in it, while Chewie took his place at the co-pilot's more familiar controls.
The Imperials fired on them and the Falcon bucked. Silencing the alarms the shot had managed to rouse, Han tried to coax more speed out of his precious "bucket of bolts". They picked up a little more and the Imperials fired on them again, they were out of range -- for now.
"Chewie," Han ordered. "See what those alarms were all about this time. I'm gonna see if I can find us a planet in this system we can put down on."
Leia pointed to a small rock floating in front of them to the port side. "What about that one?"
"Let me run a check on it here,... uh, no habitable atmosphere...zip technology...and absolutely no life. Hang on running a check on other planets -- If there are any -- OK, computer says eight other planets in system....One with habitable atmosphere...not much technology although there is lots of life.... Let's try to contact them." Then he suddenly sat up straighter as if he had an idea. Han turned to Leia, "Your Highness," He said. "You're the diplomat, why don't you contact the planet?" That earned him a glare, but she did reach for the comm unit.
Chewie, having finished his research interrupted. Leia stopped to listen. He growled his list of needed repairs.
"Oh dear!" stated a flustered Threepio. "Whatever shall we do?"
Han translated for everyone else. "We already knew that the sublight engines are only capable of half their normal speed. Now our landing gear is non-existent and the comm dish has been fried along with all the front and half of the rear repulsorlifts."
At this Artoo emitted a long, low, sad-sounding whistle.
"What?!?!" Luke asked incredulously.
"You heard the man," Leia said irritably. "He said that --"
"One more thing," Han interrupted. "Life support systems are only going to last us another two hours."
Everybody groaned.
"At least the Imperials seem to be content with just following us," Luke commented.
"Thank the Maker!" Threepio exclaimed.
Chapter Two
An hour and a half later, they where entering the atmosphere. That did not pose a problem. Then it came to landing. They skimmed over the treetops for ten minutes looking for a landing pad or at least a clearing. Not finding one, they gave up.
"Well, anybody got any ideas?" Han asked. Hearing no response to his question, he ordered everyone to put on their restraints. "Here goes. OK, Chewie, slowly back off power to the sublight engines. That's it. Alright everybody, hang on." He activated the repulsors they still had. It only succeeded in making thing worse. The Falcon did a nosedive into the jungle. Everybody was pitched forward in their seats. Leaves, vines, flowers, branches, and birds filled the viewport. Luckily the transparastel managed to stay intact.
"Everybody OK?" Han asked dazed. Minus a couple of dents on Threepio, everyone was fine.
"Well come on, let's get out of here. Artoo, we'll probably need your scanners." The droid in question whistled something that sounded like an affirmative. "Kid, got your lightsaber?" Luke held the object up in his hand in response. Han checked his own weapon. "Chewie," He addressed the Wookiee rummaging through the weapons compartment above the cockpit. "Get the Princess here a blaster," After forwarding the weapon to Leia, he asked half seriously, "Know how to use it Your Worship?"
"Yes, Han," she said, irritated, rolling her eyes.
He repeating the gesture of annoyance. "Chewie, I need you to stay here and guard the ship," Chewie responded with a roar. "Everybody else, follow me."
*~*~*
"Hey Dad!" Dr. Indiana Jones yelled. He entered the tent he shared with his father, leaving the flap open.
"What is it Junior?" asked his father Dr. Henry Jones. Indy just rolled his eyes at his father's title for him.
"Did you see that over there?" Indy asked, pointing skyward and a little to their left.
"See what Junior?" his father asked, even though he was obviously completely oblivious as to what his son was talking about.
"Over there," Indy repeated, pointing again. "It looked like a meteor or something."
"What? I'm sorry Junior, I didn't catch all that," Henry finally looked up from the notes he was absorbed in.
"Never mind Dad."
Indy's father went back to scouring over his research on the part of Africa they had both been frequenting as of late.
Indy and his father had heard of an excavation that had been going on in an African jungle for some years now. Looking into it further, they decided to go join in the effort. They were uncovering an ancient city of the natives that had not been unearthed for centuries. A week after they joined the company, Indy had discovered a temple and statue the natives had erected in honor of one of their gods. It was in perfect condition, everything inside had somehow been sealed off from the volcanic ash that had covered the city and things were only a little dusty. The temple contained a hold, which in turn contained a fortune in gold. Everything they found suggested that the ancient civilization had been very rich. The statue itself was made of gold and jewels.
In other words they had found everything except what they had come looking for.
Indy's translator at his last excavation site, which was in a nearby country, had told him stories of an ancient crystal. Of how a centuries old tribe in the area would pass it down from leader to leader. It was rumored to have special powers. Whoever was in possession of it eventually became rich and powerful.
"Hey Dad," Indy said again. This time he waited until his father looked up from his notes.
"Yes Junior?"
Indy resisted the urge to stomp his foot in frustration. "Dad, I wish you would stop calling me that."
"Why? It's your name isn't it?" the elder Jones asked patiently.
"Wish it wasn't," Indy muttered.
"What was that son?"
"Nothing Dad." He sighed, yet again giving up in his attempts to convince his father to stop calling him by the nickname he considered childish.
"That's what I thought. Now what were you going to tell me?" Henry asked, a slight smirk his only acknowledgment of Indy's concession.
Indy took his rifle out from under his cot in their tent. "I'm going to investigate what looks like a meteorite that just hit."
"OK. Be back in time for dinner. Oh, and watch out for the snakes, Junior. I heard there were some pretty poisonous ones out here."
"Don't worry Dad. I will." Then he added quietly as he exited the tent, "I hate it when he calls me that."
*~*~*
"I'm going to go ahead and scout. You guys rest here for a while. If I'm not back in thirty minutes, come find me."
"Han," Leia said hesitantly.
"Yes Princess?" Han replied. He checked his blaster for the hundredth time in the last hour.
"Be...Just be careful OK?"
"Yes Your Majesty," He gave her a mock bow, and barely managed to duck the leafy twig she threw his way.
"Get your sorry self out of here before I do something I'll regret later."
He left quickly.
*~*~*
Indy was making his way through the jungle, slowly. It had been a while since his last trek and he had forgotten how hard and tiring it could be to fight his way through the vines and underbrush with a machete.
He cut away through a particularly nasty vine and stopped for a minute's rest. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he turned and looked around him. And come face to face with a huge pale yellow snake wrapped around a nearby branch. Indy stepped back, horrified; he hated snakes. Feeling something soft and squishy under his foot, he looked down, only to discover another snake, but this time it was a little smaller and not so yellow. He let out a yell as the thing bit him right through his boot.
Indy raised his rifle, shot the snake, and shook himself loose. Then he started limping toward camp hearing in his head what his father was going to have to say about this. He made it about thirty feet before collapsing.
*~*~*
A twig snapped somewhere behind him. Han whirled around, blaster in hand. Whatever it was he couldn't see it. He decided to just keep moving.
He had walked for another two minutes then turned around again when he heard another twig snap. Completing his one-eighty, Han found himself looking down the barrel of very ancient, very wicked, foreign looking weapon that resembled his own blaster.
"Stop right there, Dr. Jones," Han didn't recognize the face, the voice, or the accent. The man was human as far as he could tell and wearing what looked like some type of uniform. He continued, "Drop your weapon. Don't try anything stupid or I might be forced to kill you." The man topped his speech with an evil grin.
Han pulled his blaster out of it's holster. He decided to take the uniformed man's advice and not try anything - yet. He dropped the blaster on the ground beside him.
"Very good Dr. Jones. Now follow me, there's someone who's waiting to see you."
Han didn't want to see who or what was waiting to see "him". "I'm not Dr. Jones."
A second man stepped from the shadows. "You won't be for much longer." He said. Han noticed that this second man was wearing a similar uniform to that of the first man. Both sported a strange symbol: a red background, a white circle, and a strange black symbol in the middle of the circle. He guessed these men were some kind of soldiers.
But he wasn't going to wait around to find out. The second man's weapon was still holstered. It looked almost exactly like the first man's weapon. If he could just get a hold of it.... Han started formulating his plan.
Before either of the officers knew what was happening, Han decked the first one. The blow laid him flat. The second officer stood stock still, mouth hanging open. Han took advantage of the soldier's shock, grabbing his weapon and sweeping his feet out from under him. Making sure both of them looked out of it enough for him to make a break for it. he ran headlong into the jungle. He wasn't making much progress.
Remembering the weapon, he gave it a once over. It had almost the same controls as his blaster.
Han broke through the trees into a small trail of broken branches and cut vines. He stopped. It looked like someone had been through recently. The path went in two directions, choosing one, he started running again. Hearing the sound of running feet behind him, Han quickened his pace.
He turned around only long enough to fire his weapon. It made an extremely loud noise compared to his blaster. Missed. He heard the report of the man behind him's weapon as something whizzed past his ear.
He could see sunlight coming from what looked like a clearing up ahead. Just before he reached it, he turned and fired his weapon again. And missed, again. Han broke into the clearing. As he turned to fire again, a searing pain shot through his left side, spinning him further around. He fired his weapon one last time. Before he blacked out, he thought he saw the soldier fall.
Chapter Three
"Han's been gone for a while. Think we should go look for him?" Luke voiced the same thoughts that had been running through Leia's head.
She checked her chrono again. Han had been gone for 35 standard minutes. "Well he's five minutes overdue. I guess so."
The two of them -- plus Threepio and Artoo -- headed into the jungle. They went in the direction they had last seen Han heading. It was slow going, even though there was already a trail, Artoo and Threepio had trouble getting through. Eventually Luke pulled out his lightsaber and cleared the way. After that things went a little more smoothly - until they reached a fork in the path.
Luke was the first to comment. "Oh great, now what?"
"We could split up. But considering this isn't familiar turf, I don't think that would be a very good idea." Luke agreed with her. "Artoo," Leia continued. "Can you use your scanners here?" The astromech droid whistled. The scanner popped up out of the little droid's head and stared spinning. When it suddenly stopped, the droid beeped and whistled frantically.
Threepio translated. "Artoo says he has detected a life form not far north of here. He thinks it may be Captain Solo."
*~*~*
Henry Jones pulled his pocket watch out of his vest. "He has been gone far too long," He said to himself. "I best go look for him." Putting down his research he sighed. His son sure had a knack for getting into trouble. Always had for that matter. Henry could remember many a time when his son had wondered off somewhere only to return with a broken bone or some foreign illness.
Henry exited the tent and scanned the parameters of the camp. There. Wait a minute, it was his quarry alright, but he was on the ground. The next thing Henry knew, he was kneeling on the ground in front of his son who had a bullet wound in his side. It was bleeding profusely and looked like it had been for sometime.
Picking up his injured charge, Henry wondered allowed. "Junior, where in the world did those clothes come from?"
*~*~*
"Han?" Luke yelled running ahead. They had spotted him at the end of the path.
Leia was at his heels, the droids following at a much slower pace. "Where in the world's did those clothes come from?" Luke never answered her question. He was too busy with Han. Leaving Leia to either look over his shoulder or deal with the droids. She choose the latter.
"Looks like something bit him," Luke voiced his findings.
"What do you think it was?"
"Some kind of snake probably."
"Yeah guess your right."
In a joint effort, they carried him back to the ship together.
*~*~*
Indy awoke as something pricked his arm. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, glad you could join us." The voice belonged to a very beautiful woman.
"Who are you?" Indy asked.
"Oh great, don't tell me you have amnesia now too," The woman rolled her eyes.
"I don't think so, but you didn't answer my question," He began to sit up. At the same time as a wave of dizziness hit him, the woman pushed him back down.
"I wouldn't do that. That antidote tends to have side effects."
"Great. Wait. Antidote for what? Where am I? And who are you?!?"
"Antidote for the venom that entered your system when that snake bit you. I'm Leia, and your Falcon."
"Falcon?"
"You think you'd recognize the name of your own ship, Han."
"Han? Now what are you talking about?"
"You."
"Uh, no. I don't think so. I think you've got me mixed up with someone else." He tried again to get up. "I don't think so, pal."
"Look lady, I don't know who you think you are, but I only take orders from one person, me."
"Huh. Sounds familiar. You're staying right here, Han," She turned in the direction of the lounge. "Luke!" She called.
Luke stuck his head in the doorway. "Yeah, Leia? Oh, Hey Han. Feeling better?"
"Sure. Look, I don't know who this "Han" is, but I'm Indiana Jones and I had better get back to camp before my father comes looking for me." Indy tried yet again to get up.
"I wouldn't do that..." Leia pointed to a pile of garments laying on a sleepcouch across the room.
Indy's face reddened and he fell back into the bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin. "Fine! I give up!"
*~*~*
The Iron Scepter landed in large clearing in the middle of the jungle. Someone had seen their prey crash land nearby. The captain sent troops out to search for survivors.
*~*~*
Henry Jones woke up. He glanced at his pocket watch. The moonlight that entered the tent by way of the flap illuminated it. Still the middle of the night.
He arose to see what had wakened him. His son was still unconscious. He opened the tent flap all the way. Nothing. "Wait a minute," he spotted something off in the jungle. "Looks like a campfire."
Henry quickly got dressed. He grabbed his rifle and went to check things out. Leaving the tent open by accident.