The Imperial Shuttle sucked away Shar'Ack's musty odor the instant the cargo doors closed. Inside the craft was washed with filtered oxygen. This fine-tuned machine was perfectly calibrated to remove every bit of organic matter from within its hull, rendering the entire ship an empty void. This wasn't Chewbacca's first time aboard an Imperial vessel but it might just be his last.
"I know what you're thinking," the Lieutenant offered, letting his words settle in the air with a pregnant pause. "What a dump, right?"
This human had made himself incredibly comfortable with Chewbacca. They had only spent a short while traversing the forest back to the shuttle carrying his Commander's first shipment of Tyric's Idilwil. And now here he was, prying apart the shuttle's scanner, removing the plating from its metal chassis. He plucked a single cable out from the mess of wires and the entire box shut down.
The Lieutenant looked at Chewbacca with a smirk. "Damn needlebugs, am I right? Your boss gave me that idea. Those scanners are a pain anyways." He wiped his hands clean on his uniform and made eye contact with the Wookiee. Most humanoids were intimidated by Chewbacca's massive frame, and yet here was an Imperial officer who was unlike anyone Chewbacca had ever met before.
The Lieutenant was standing very close to Chewbacca now. If anyone else had been on board, Chewbacca doubted they'd be able to hear what he was saying. "It's been good to have someone who listens. I've been kinda running up the walls around here lately."
"In case anyone asks, which I doubt'll happen, just tell them the Commander gave us the okay to proceed. You understand?" Chewbacca grunted his acceptance. "Yeah, you get it." Chewbacca didn't need the condescending instructions to get that much. But if it meant this selfish Lieutenant wouldn't question the contents of Chewbacca's cargo, he was willing to indulge the behavior.
Past the malfunctioning scanners, the pair made their way through the cavernous ship's hallways. Their footsteps echoed in every direction as the repulsorlift slid silently ahead of them, carrying the tons of hidden mining explosives. Chewbacca couldn't help but notice the eerie quiet surrounding them. The ship was strangely vacant, with hardly even the sound of motorized droids bustling about. As far as Chewbacca could tell, they were the only lifeforms aboard this ship.
Chewbacca's plan was dangerously close to coming to fruition. It took all of his willpower to keep his heart rate and breathing at normal levels. This single ship represented his last chance at retribution. If Chewbacca was ever going to get his revenge against the Empire, it would be here and now. He could feel it in his bones. This place was the beginning of the end.
"So you promise you're going to be alright with what's in there?" It took Chewbacca a moment to realize the Lieutenant had been speaking for quite some time and was now asking him a question. He grunted back the same affirmative, anything to keep the Lieutenant talking.
Instead, the Lieutenant stopped in his tracks. They had finally arrived at the entrance to the cargo bay. "The Commander's safe is just on the other end there," the Lieutenant explained. Lights instantly turned on as they made their passage through the ship. Suddenly the room was filled with a foul odor. The smell of fear and hatred. "Sorry for the smell. We tried to wash them, but the Commander put an end to that." The Lieutenant was now sounding very fearful. His words were dripping with nervous energy. Chewbacca was beginning to realize that maybe he should have been paying attention to what the Lieutenant had asked him.
They had only taken a few steps when Chewbacca noticed the texture of the floor had changed. What was once cold metal became coarse and rough. Its shine was dampened and obscured. Chewbacca knelt down to inspect this peculiar sensation and found a clump of matted brown hair.
In fact, there was a trail of it. All leading to a cage in the far corner of the room.
A communicator rang, startling Chewbacca. And awakened whatever was in the cage.
The Lieutenant pawed for the communicator on his belt. "Let me get that." He finally unclasped the thing and returned the message. "Copy that, Commander." He switched the communicator to mute and covered the microphone for extra precaution. "I'm going to take this. Go ahead and drop off the cargo right over there. And don't steal anything!"
He hustled away, leaving Chewbacca alone. This was his chance. Chewbacca could pry open the cargo box, plant the explosives in clandestine locations throughout the ship, maximizing the explosive radius. But his feet carried him right past the box and towards the cage in the corner of the room.
It was clearly a recent addition to the shuttle. They did not usually carry something like this, but stranger sights have been seen. From inside, there was a slight rustling followed by a thud and a scrape against the cage's thick metal bars.
"Help." These words were the first Chewbacca had heard spoken in Shryiwook since he first crashed on Shar'Ack. He swelled with energy and charged towards the bars.
She was as tall as Chewbacca, although her hair was longer and knotted.
"Who - who are you?" The words tumbled out of Chewbacca's mouth. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to speak and be understood.
"My name is… Malla. Have you come… to rescue us?" She asked.
Chewbacca pulled on the bars but could find no way to open them. "I didn't know you were here," he said. "I didn't know."
She tilted her head in confusion. "Then what are you doing here?"
"I came here for revenge." It was freeing to finally say that out loud. To tell the truth about how he felt.
"Does that mean… you're with the Rebel Alliance?" She asked the question with a hint of skepticism.
"No. I am alone."
"My cellmates will be disappointed to hear that. From what I've heard, they have been trying to reach the Alliance."
This was the first time Chewbacca noticed there were others in her cell. One, a tentacled blue Twi'lek woman. The other, a pale human no older than 15 years. They were dirty and tired like Malla. Although they did not dare to make eye contact with the tall Wookiee. For all they knew, this conversation was going poorly between two rival clan members.
"Are you from the Tojj clan?" Malla asked. "I can smell it on you. I was with the Gkrur." Chewbacca knew this story well. The Gkrur were denied safe haven by their rivals, the Chevappa. Not that it did them any good. The slavers captured both tribes shortly thereafter. But how did this one, Malla, escape?
"At first they sent me to the labor camps," Malla said. "But then they wanted to make an example of me. So they sent me off as a prisoner of war instead of with the other slaves…" That word, slave, stuck in her throat like a lump of coal. "Now I'm here. With you…"
Her voice softly echoed through the space of the cargo, drawing Chewbacca's attention towards the sound of the Lieutenant's footsteps hastily returning.
"We don't have much time." Chewbacca needed to be quick to reassure her. "I will not abandon you."
His initial plan, of destroying this ship and everyone inside it, felt like a distant memory. But as hard as he tried, Chewbacca could not find a way to help her escape.
The Lieutenant's pace quickened and soon he was running up to Chewbacca. If he was nervous before, he was panicking now. "I've got some bad news, buddy."
He reached to his side and pulled out his blaster with the barrel aimed squarely at Chewbacca's chest.
"Now remember I'm just the messenger here." The Lieutenant was trembling in front of the Wookiee even though he had the upper hand. "I see you met the cargo." He waved his blaster over to Malla with the flick of his wrist. "The Commander recently got a side job picking up P.O.W's. I don't like it but then again that's not why they pay me."
Chewbacca roared at the man. If he was going to betray him, then that meant Chewbacca no longer needed to pretend to enjoy his company. "Your buddy Tyric, he sold you out. Literally. He sold you off to the Empire."
This should have been a surprise to Chewbacca, but it was not. After all these years of fighting, Chewbacca realized his destination was always inevitable. A Wookiee in this galaxy was never truly free.
"But that doesn't mean it has to work that way." The Lieutenant couldn't help but let loose his sly grin. Chewbacca was puzzled by this sudden turn.
"I'll tell them you beat me up and escaped before anyone gets here. I can't offer you much time but it's not nothing."
The Lieutenant slightly lowered his blaster, as if to prove he was serious, but not so far as to fully trust the Wookiee. The only thing Chewbacca was certain of was this human's ability to surprise. The moment he had finally written off the human for good, he had come back with this. But as much as he appreciated the offer, Chewbacca was pulled back to Malla. He could not leave her here.
The Lieutenant must have picked up on this. "I'm sorry but there's no opening up that cell," he said.
It must be possible, Chewbacca thought. He roared and smashed the cell as hard as he could. Inside Malla and the two prisoners were frightened by the clashing of claw and metal. But the cold steel withstood his strength. It budged an inch but didn't give way.
"Settle down there!" The Lieutenant impotently shouted. He was finally beginning to realize how little control he had over the Wookiee, with or without his puny blaster. "I'm giving you a shot at getting out of here without being turned into a fur rug. You better take it."
He poked the Wookiee with his index finger. Then Chewbacca picked him up and threw him against the wall.
The blaster fell a short distance away. The Lieutenant had only just gotten back up to his feet when he turned to see Chewbacca switch it off from stun mode. He slowly reached his hands up to the sky in surrender.
Forever looking for the final word, he sighed. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"
