Prisoner Escape
"Contact Lord Loren at the Senate Building in Coruscant," commanded Commander Cartim to one of the Imperial employees in the communication room.
"Yes, sir," said the employee, and he pressed a button on his computer screen.
A noise of static filled the air as the hologram image of Lord Loren appeared in the center of the room. All the Imperial employees stopped their work and watched as Commander Cartim made his way to the hologram. Once there, Commander Cartim bowed his head quickly at the hologram image, hoping to please the new emperor.
Lord Loren, however, was far from pleased.
"What do you want, Commander Cartim?" Loren asked in a quiet, yet, angry tone.
Commander Cartim nervously looked up at the emperor. Rumor had it that Lord Loren was trained by Emperor Palpatine himself to use the dark side of the Force, and Commander Cartim knew full well that the worst thing in the galaxy to do was to upset a Sith Lord.
Still, Lord Loren being a Sith Lord wasn't going to stop Commander Cartim from doing his duty. After all, he was being paid a handsome wage; one that most citizens of the Empire would be lucky to get in a lifetime.
"Lord Loren, Captain Ganda had just delivered Luke Skywalker into our hands."
Lord Loren's clean face did not change in emotion.
"What cell is he being held in?"
"Cell number 41B," replied Commander Cartim.
"Is cell 41B the strongest cell you have?" asked Lord Loren.
"I assure you, Lord Loren, that the Jedi cannot break out of his cell," said Commander Cartim with a small smile on his nervous face.
"And what of your security computer?" asked Loren, "I heard it crashed the other week."
"Captain Ganda is fixing any errors in the program at this instance," said Commander Cartim.
"Good," said Lord Loren in a calmer voice, "You have done well, Commander. I want you to place extra guards down in the prison level that has cell 41B."
Commander Cartim looked up at Lord Loren in surprise.
"But your Excellency, I have already told you that…"
"Quiet!" said Loren, his voice rising angrily at Commander Cartim.
Surprised by the anger in the emperor's voice, Commander Cartim stopped talking and stared at Lord Loren, his eyes full of fear.
Lord Loren quieted his voice but the anger was still in it.
"Did you ever encounter a Jedi before, Commander?"
"Why, no but I…"
"Then stop your babbling and obey my orders," hissed Loren, "Why do you think that my Master wiped out the Jedi before establishing the Empire? The Jedi are the only beings that can destroy the Empire!"
"But, Lord Loren, how can this one Jedi be of any danger to the Empire?"
"This Jedi that you refer to was the one who destroyed my Master, Emperor Palpatine," said Lord Loren.
Commander Cartim could easily see the anger coming from the new emperor, and he did not want to be the target of the Sith's anger.
"My apologies, my Lord," apologized Commander Cartim, "I will order more stormtroopers to section 4B."
"Good, and contact me when Captain Ganda is done with checking the security computer."
"Yes, sir," said Commander Cartim, but the hologram image of Lord Loren had disappeared. From the room.
With the Sith Lord now gone, Commander Cartim turned to one of the Imperial employees.
"Send a dozen stormtroopers to guard section 4B."
"Yes, sir," said the employee and went straight to work.
Commander Cartim walked away from busy employees and looked out at one of the windows in the communication room. A whole legion of stormtroopers in white uniforms marched across the metallic surface of the prison, setting out to do their duties. Commander Cartim gave a small smile; he loved having power.
A sudden blast echoed across the room.
Commander Cartim turned around and looked at the Imperial employees.
"What was that?"
"It sounded like blasters, Sir," said one of the employees.
"Which room did it come from?" asked Commander Cartim.
The employee pressed one of the buttons on his computer.
"The security room, sir," said the employee.
A nervous look came across Commander Cartim's face.
"Contact the security room," commanded Commander Cartim.
"Yes, sir."
As the employee contacted the security room, Commander Cartim waited patiently by the window. After his talk with Lord Loren, Commander Cartim hoped that nothing bad was going to happen while the last of the Jedi stayed in their prison.
The elevator door opened up, and Captain Ganda stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway. Several Imperial officers and stormtroopers passed by Captain Ganda, unaware of his real identity: General Lando Calrissian, one of the greatest leaders in the Rebel Alliance. While his friend, General Han Solo, was a great fighter and pilot, Lando was a great leader with special social skills that far outrank his rude friend. That was why he was assigned to be Captain Ganda; who else knew how to behave like an Imperial officer than Lando himself.
And in this mission, Lando was the key player.
Lando walked along in the hallway, minding his own business as every other officer was doing. When he came to the elevator, Lando opened the door and stepped inside the elevator. Being inside, Lando pressed the floor level he wanted to be on: section 4B.
Instinctively, the elevator door closed, and Lando felt the elevator go down the elevator chute to section 4B: the section that held Luke Skywalker.
"Commander Cartim, we are not receiving a reply from the security room!"
Commander Cartim turned around from the window and looked at the employee at the computer.
"Why not," asked Commander Cartim.
"It seems that one of the officers turned off our message," said the employee.
"Commander," said another employee, "The computer had picked up an alarm that was set off from the security room."
Commander Cartim went over to the employee and looked at the computer screen. Sure enough, there was an alarm going off on the screen.
Commander Cartim turned to one of his lieutenants that was in the room.
"Take a squad of stormtrooper and go to the security room. Once there bring me Captain Ganda."
"Yes sir," said the lieutenant and marched out of the room.
Commander Cartim then turned to the employee.
"Send a message to all the officers that if they see Captain Ganda, they are to send him to the communication room immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Commander Cartim watched as the employee sent out the message. Something was wrong here, and Commander Cartim had a feeling it had to deal with Captain Ganda.
Lando stepped out of the elevator and entered section 4B. A squad of stormtroopers guarded the entrance, but seeing that Lando looked like an Imperial officer, they let him pass. Lando nodded his head at them and walked down the hallway.
Lando passed by dozens of cells before he finally came to cell number 41B. Watching the stormtroopers carefully, Lando unlocked the cell door and opened it up. There on the cell bed was Luke Skywalker.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"Oh, you know, Luke. Dealing with Imperial officers takes a while," said Lando.
Luke got off of the bed and stood in front of Lando.
"You know what to do," he said.
Lando turned Luke around and locked his hands in hand binders behind his back. Then Lando push Luke out of his cell and closed it.
"Now comes the hard part," said Lando, and he pushed Luke down the hallway to the elevator. They were stopped by the stormtroopers.
"Halt!"
Lando stopped and stuck one of his hands behind his back, grasping a small tube-like object from his pants.
"Where are you going with the prisoner?" commanded the lead stormtrooper.
"I am taking him to cell number 56A," said Lando, no urgency in his voice. His hand, however, grasped the tube-like object even tighter.
"What is your position?" asked the stormtrooper.
"Captain Ganda of the Imperial cruiser Achilles." said Lando.
The stormtrooper suddenly pointed his blaster at Lando.
"Captain Ganda. Commander Cartim was looking for you. I am to report you to the communication room immediately."
Lando looked at Luke, and ever so carefully, his hand took out the tube-like object from his pants and put it into Luke's bound hands.
"What about my prisoner?" asked Lando.
"My troops will take him back to his original cell."
The stormtroopers approached Luke, but before they could grab him, Luke suddenly did a flip over the surprised clones and landed behind them. A green beam of light popped out from Luke's back, freeing his hands from his binder. With his hands now free, Luke brought his lightsaber in front of him, ready to defend himself.
"Attack him," commanded the leader.
The stormtroopers began blasting at Luke but proved to be no match for a Jedi Knight. Luke easily blocked off the laser bolts and bounced them back at their shooters. One by one, the stormtroopers fell down to the ground. Luke then began his attack, slashing his lightsaber skillfully into the wounded guards. Soon, all of the stormtroopers lay dead on the floor.
Luke looked around to make sure there were no other guards and then deactivated his lightsaber.
"Where are the Rebel soldiers being held," asked Luke to Lando.
"Section 10C."
Luke ran over to the elevator and opened the door.
"Come on," Luke said to Lando.
Lando ran into the elevator, and Luke punched the side panel button. The elevator door closed, and Luke and Lando went down the elevator chute to section 10C: the location of the Rebel prisoners.
