Cloud City was an unqualified disaster area. Citizens, workers, and families still sat in a state of shock and panic. Nearly half of them had successfully evacuated while the other half had remained. They were occupied in either fighting back the stormtroopers that had been left behind or hiding in their dwellings. Cloud City Security had mopped up what they could, but without Lando, there was very little organization.

This was the scene that Han, Leia, Chewie, and Lando arrived to find. Immediately every security officer in the city was mobilized into one of six groups. Lando instructed them to sweep every part of to city to root out the last of the stormtroopers.

Next, Lando called in the nearest medical staff to have a look at Han. Han protested this and wanted to start looking for Luke, but both Leia and Lando insisted. In the meantime Lando put out an APB to be on the lookout for any young men matching Luke's description.

As the night drew on, the city had fallen silent. Leia was pacing in her old quarters on Bespin feeling a strange sense of deja vu when there was a ring at her door. She flinched and looked up. "Yes?"

Chewbacca entered and gave a questioning yowl.

Leia's brow wrinkled with confusion. Even with all those weeks spend between the asteroid field and Bespin, she still had not picked up any Wookiee-speech. "I'm sorry, Chewie. I can't-"

"He said he's got a surprise," muttered Han. He stood in the doorway of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" scolded Leia. The medic had said Han would be fine, but prescribed bed rest until the hibernation sickness had completely worn off. Somehow Leia wasn't surprised to see him.

"I'll rest later." Han blinked hard several times and walked into the living area. "'Sides, my sight's almost back to nor- ow!" Han lifted his bare foot and rubbed it. He'd stubbed his big toe and nearly tripped over a chair directly in front of him. Various Corellian profanities streamed out, along with a question about the intelligence of having both furniture and floor in white.

"Almost back to normal?" Leia sighed and shook her head as she approached the smuggler to peer at the sore digit.

"Lemme alone, I'm fine," grumbled Han as he sat down. "What surprise? Did they find Luke?"

Chewie mournfully shook his head. He waved at someone in the doorway. The next minute, in waddled a fully-repaired See-Threepio.

The golden droid went directly for Han and Leia. "Oh, Mistress Leia, it is so good to be mobile again. What a distressing few days this has been!"

"Hey, Goldenrod. Nice to see you in one piece," said Han. He hadn't exactly missed the prissy protocol droid, but Leia was rather attached to him. If having Threepio made Leia happy, then he'd learn to put up with it.

Threepio tilted his head. "Why thank you, Captain Solo. I must say, it is a great relief to see you out of that carbonite. But dear, me! How dreadful about Master Luke! Do you think he has been captured by the Empire?"

Leia turned away. Please...no... As much as she protested the idea, she was beginning to think that Luke was long gone. His X-wing had already been found. There was no word yet on R2-D2.

Han scowled at Threepio. "Luke's too smart to let Vader get him." A comforting arm was draped across Leia's shoulders.

Leia closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. She so wished she could believe Han...but Vader was too determined. The Dark Lord would never have left the city without Luke. Leia cursed the evil man over and over again.

Threepio shook his head. "I do hope you're right, Captain Solo. I simply couldn't bear it if anything were to happen to him."

"Don't even talk like that," barked Han. "He's fine, you hear me?"

Silence hung over the room. Everyone wanted to believe it...and yet somehow no one could...not until Luke was back with them, safe and sound.

The long silence was broken by the entrance chime on the door. Lando strode in, looking rather discouraged.

Han jumped back to his feet, as did Leia. "Has there been any word?" asked Leia, trying not to hope too much.

Sadly Lando shook his head. "No. There's no one in the city that's seen Luke. I tried to find the Ugnaughts who worked in the carbon freezing chamber, but they've been gone for hours."

Han sighed with disappointment. Leia closed her eyes and leaned against Han. Chewie gave a sad little moan. Even Threepio seemed to sag a little on his bearings.

"Oh, dear," said the droid quietly.

Lando shifted around uncomfortably. "Look, I'm doing the best I can. Half the city's in a shambles, there's dead and wounded all over the place...but I'll find him, if I have to turn this place inside-out."

Leia lifted her head and tried to give Lando an encouraging glance. "We know. Thank you."

Han glanced at the man. "Yeah...thanks." His expression told of a grudging, gradual return of respect. It was true, Lando had saved his, Leia's, and Chewie's lives...but at the moment he was more worried about Luke.

Lando surveyed the group and let out a heavy sigh. So much hope for a single young man. He had figured out almost at once that this Skywalker was closer than a brother to Han and Leia both. He had never met Luke, but felt determined to find him...somehow. "How's everyone holding up?"

Han glared. "How d'ya think?"

Hang on, buddy. I'm not through yet. Lando nodded. "I...I've got a few more places to look. I'd better go..."

Threepio lifted one of his golden arms and waddled up to the man. "Excuse me, Administrator Calrissian, but...have you seen anything of my counterpart, Artoo-"

The entrance alarm rang again. Everyone turned to look at the doorway, where a blue-garbed security officer stood at attention. "Administrator Calrissian?"

"Yes, Hodge. What is it?" Lando wanted to know.

"I'm not sure, sir." Hodge's face held a very peculiar expression. "But we've found something I think you ought to see..." he looked over his shoulder and his expression suddenly changed to worry. "Hey! I thought you were going to take that thing to the Automaton Pool!"

Before anyone could wonder what was going on, a little round robot painted blue, white, and silver zipped into the doorway and let out a very desperate-sounding series of beeps and whistles.

Everyone in the room immediately rose to their feet. "Artoo, is that you?" Leia asked in disbelief.

"Oh! Artoo-Detoo! Where in the universe have you been? You had me so worried I nearly short-circuited!" exclaimed Threepio, waddling up to the door and all but shoving Lando aside. Artoo quickly responded with an indignant raspberry.

"I'm sorry, Administrator," apologized the security officer. "We've tried to put a restraining bolt on him, but he just wouldn't cooperate. We'll pick him up-"

"No, wait a minute." Lando held out his arm to block the way as the determined little droid awkwardly made his way down the steps. He looked at the assembled group as they all greeted the stubby astromech. "You know this droid?"

"I beg your pardon! Of course we do!" cried Threepio. "This is my counterpart, Artoo-De-"

"He belongs to Luke. He's the astromech for his X-wing," said Leia hurriedly. "Artoo, what happened?"

Artoo let out a hurried, excited series of beeps.

Threeepio waved his arms. "Slow down, Artoo! I can't understand a word you're saying! Yes...yes, I see...what?!"

Han looked from one droid to the other, confusion and frustration mounting. "What? What's he saying, Threepio?"

Threepio turned to regard the others. "I'm afraid Artoo is a little excited. It's difficult to get a clear word out of him, but...I believe he's saying that rather than going to the rendezvous point with the others, Master Luke went to some planet called Dagobah."

Han frowned. "What for?"

Artoo whistled another sentence.

Threepio seemed to be confused. "He says to meet a person called Yoda and continue to train as a Jedi, as per the instructions of Obi-Wan Kenobi." He turned to Artoo in annoyance. "Oh, don't be ridiculous! He died aboard the Death Star, you twit!"

Han turned to Leia. "Kid musta been hearin' things. You ever hear of this Yoda guy?"

Leia shrugged helplessly. "No, but that doesn't mean he doesn't exist. There were thousands of Jedi at one point. More than one might have escaped. Besides, if Artoo says he exists, then it must be true. Droids can't hallucinate."

"I should say not!" cried Threepio indignantly. "Then what happened, Artoo?" The droid responded with a sadder, slower series of beeps. "Oh, dear. He says that Master Luke 'sensed' that we were all in danger and set off at once to help."

Leia and Han exchanged sad looks. It was as they'd feared.

"Well, where is he?" barked Han impatiently.

Artoo gave another series of beeps and whistles. They sounded more mournful than ever.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Why didn't you look after him, you incompetent little-" Threepio pulled back in horror at the reply. "What? Oh, my!"

"What?" asked Leia, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Oh, dear. He says that Master Luke approached a manufacturing area of the city and they were separated by a blast door. He tried everything to open it, but it wouldn't. And...Master Luke never returned." If droids had emotions, Threepio sounded sad.

Leia closed her stinging eyes. So he'd gone into the trap. And then what had happened to him? She had no doubt Vader wanted to kill him as he'd killed all the other Jedi. Her heart cried out against it. No...not Luke! He has to be alive...he has to! Despite her resolve, several tears leaked from her eyes.

Han was shaking his head in denial. He would not accept that Luke was gone. Han felt about him the way one might feel about a kid brother. He squeezed Leia's shoulder. "C'mon. We still don't know where he is. Kid's smart. He could be hiding. Hey, Artoo, how'd you avoid those troopers?"

Artoo whistled an eager reply.

"He says once he realized that Master Luke was not able to return, he hid in a utility closet and disabled the door," translated Threepio.

"That's where we found him, sir," confirmed Hodge the security officer.

"Thanks, Hodge. You're dismissed," said Lando with a slight smile. He turned back to the sober crowd. "Well, I'm not giving up. If he's as smart as you say he is, he probably did find somewhere to hide. I'm going to go check those security recordings. I'll let you know what I find out." Lando rose to leave.

Artoo wheeled around and whistled urgently. Threepio was quick to waddle after Lando. "Oh! I beg your pardon, Administrator, but Artoo says he can help you search the recordings for traces of Master Luke."

Lando paused, looked down at the little droid, and managed a half smile. This was no ordinary machine. This was another of Luke's friends. "Thanks. That would be a big help. Come on, then." He glanced at Threepio. "Oh, would you mind coming along to translate?"

Eagerly the protocol droid nodded. "Oh, yes. Thank you! I am most anxious about Master Luke. Oh, I do hope he is all right!" He waddled after the tall, dark-skinned man.

Han rose. "I'm comin', too. The droid might miss something."

Chewbacca yowled his agreement.

Lando turned to the others. "You need rest. None of you have slept in hours. It's all right. I'll wake you as soon as I find something, I promise."

Han shook his head, supporting Leia as she, too, rose to her feet. "I don't think anybody'll sleep 'till we know what happened to Luke."

This Luke must be some special young man to inspire such loyalty. Lando let out a slow breath. "All right. Come on."

Han, Leia, Chewbacca, See-Threepio, and Artoo-Detoo all walked, waddled, and rolled, respectively, out of the room to find out what had happened to their friend.