Chapter 36

Tatooine

Leia and Chewbacca had reached the huge doorway outside of the lair of Jabba the Hutt. The wookiee was in binders, something he normally despised, but if it meant saving Han Solo, he could endure it stoically. Leia looked up at her huge, furry companion, her heart hammering hard. "Well, guess this is it," she stated nervously.

Chewbacca nodded, wishing she spoke his language enough for him to offer some words of wisdom and encouragement. Instead he just waited as she used the Force to open the huge door. It opened slowly, making a great deal of noise as it did so. Leia peered inside the dark entranceway, the helmet and mask she wore making it difficult to see. But there was no one in sight. "Let's go," she said to Chewie. The wookiee came along at once, the rank smell of the interior hitting him at once. As they walked along, the sounds of raucous laughter and music could be heard. Leia judged this to be the throne room, and lead Chewie in that direction. As they approached, an odd looking alien scurried up to them, jabbering in a tongue Leia didn't understand. She simply shot him and kept going. However, the sound of her blaster had been heard within, and when she entered the throne room, all eyes were on the doorway she stepped through.

"I've come for the bounty on this wookiee," she announced, the mask she wore effectively distorting her voice.

Jabba smiled, pleased at seeing the wookiee companion of Han Solo.

"Ah, at last we have the mighty Chewbacca!" he roared in glee. "Come in, come in," he said, beckoning to Leia. A protocol droid stood on the dais beside the hutt, ready to translate the transaction.

She stepped into the throne room, holding tightly onto the chain that bound Chewbacca.

"Fortuna, give him the usual," Jabba said.

"I want fifty thousand," Leia said, deciding to make a statement.

"No less."

Jabba's enormous smiled turned to a frown as his droid translated her terms. "Why the hell should I give you that much?" he demanded.

Leia pulled a thermal detonator out of her pocket and activated it. Jabba looked at her, and then at Leia, and then began laughing.

"This bounty hunter is my kind of scum," he declared. "Ruthless and inventive." He beckoned for Bib Fortune to come closer. "Give him what he wants," he said jovially. "And have Chewbacca escorted below. I'm sure Solo will be thrilled to see his old friend," he added, earning some coarse chuckles from his minions.

Lando immediately stepped forward to do the Hutt's bidding, leading a convincingly reluctant Chewbacca to the lower levels, where Han was sitting idly in his cell. It had been more than a day since Lando had revealed himself to Han and given him hope; hope that a rescue attempt was imminent. Han had little confidence that it would actually work, however, and had all but given up hope of ever leaving Jabba's lair again. And then the heard a familiar sound, the sound of a wookiee he'd known more than half of his life. Han stood up at once. "Chewie? Chewie is that you?" he called.

"You're damn right it is," Lando said, as he brought Chewbacca into the cell. "Leia's upstairs, just keep cool, okay?"

Han nodded, as he was hugged tightly by his co-pilot. "Be careful," he warned. "If anything happens to Leia..." he began, but Lando cut him off.

"Nothing's gonna happen," he assured Han. "Will you have some faith in us?"

Han had no choice but to do so, and sat back down on the bench as Lando returned to the throne room.

Leia, in the mean time, was being chatted up by some of the miscreants in Jabba's court. Among them, and most significantly, was Boba Fett.

"Good job catching the wookiee," Fett said to Leia.

Leia simply nodded, not wanting to engage the notorious bounty hunter in casual conversation. She'd never been able to get the image of him taking Han away in binders from her mind.

"You know, I was the one who brought in Solo," Fett boasted. "Got a pretty sweet bounty for him, too," he added.

"How much?" Leia asked simply, grateful for the voice modulator that disguised her feminine voice most effectively.

"Twice what you got," Fett bragged. Leia could sense that he was lying, but didn't bother to dispute his claim.

"Where is he now?" Leia asked, trying to sound casual. "Jabba dispose of him yet?" she asked.

"Hell no," Fett replied. "He's having too much fun making Solo look like a jackass," he laughed.

Leia frowned, and felt a surge of anger rage through her. "Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," Fett replied. "Any shitty job he can think of, Jabba gives to Solo," he added. "He calls him his favourite pet, isn't that great? A pet!"
Leia was too upset to come up with a clever response, and simply nodded. She then spotted Lando from across the room, and knew that all the pieces were in place. I just have to survive this place until night fall; she told herself as a green skinned dancing girl started gyrating lewdly to some loud music. Only a few more hours and you'll be free Han...just hold on.

Cloud City

"Yes, Milady," Admiral Piett reported, "I have a conference with the admiralty later on today."

"Good," Padmé replied. "Please let me know how things go."

"Of course," Piett replied. "May I ask how Lord Vader is doing?"
"He is still in stasis," Padmé informed him. "The doctors expect he will be for at least another week."

Piett nodded in understanding. "Having your children with you at this time must be of tremendous comfort to you," he remarked with a sympathetic smile.

Padmé frowned. "If only that were true," she said quietly.

Piett's face assumed an expression of surprised concern. "Oh? They are not with you, Milady?"

"No," Padmé replied. "They have gone to the planet Tatooine to assist their friend," she informed him. "He was taken there by a bounty hunter to pay a debt to Jabba the Hutt. I'm rather worried about them, to tell you the truth," she confided in him.

Piett nodded thoughtfully. "Rightly so, Lady Vader," he replied. "I understand Jabba is quite notorious."
"Yes, he is," Padmé agreed.

"May I suggest you send some storm troopers to assist them?" he said. "I'm certain that Lord Vader has at least a squadron of his personal troops with him there on Bespin."

"Yes he does have a squadron here," Padmé replied. "Perhaps that's what I will do," she added, knowing that neither Luke nor Leia would have accepted help from Imperial troops had she suggested it earlier.

"They would certainly help expedite the situation," Piett responded.

"I'm sure of it," Padmé agreed. "Thank you for the suggestion, Admiral," she replied with a smile.

"I am happy to help, Milady," he responded. "Please don't hesitate to let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with."

"I will," Padmé replied. "Thank you again."

Padmé ended the transmission and immediately contacted the commander of Vader's elite squadron, Commander Jir. The clone trooper arrived a short time later.

"How can I help you, Lady Vader?" he asked.

Padmé had started to finally relax in the presence of storm troopers, but it helped a lot when they removed their helmets to show her their face. She suspected that her husband had told his men to do this in order to alleviate the anxiety that she felt around his troops.

"I need you to take the squadron to Tatooine," Padmé told him. "My son and daughter have gone there to affect a rescue from the lair of Jabba the Hutt," she explained. "I want you to go and make sure they are safe and successful."
Jir nodded. "Right away," he said. "But do you want the entire squadron to go, Milady?" he asked. "That's six hundred men. You'd be here alone."

Padmé frowned, annoyed that this thought had not occurred to her. "I suppose that does seem a bit superfluous," she agreed.

"A century would do the job no problem," Jir suggested. "And would leave you well protected here as well."

"Yes, you're right," Padmé agreed. "Very well, a century then," she told him.

"I'll hand pick the men myself," he replied. "And brief them fully before they go."

"Thank you Commander," she replied. She watched him go, a feeling of uneasiness starting within her. I need you Anakin, she thought as she left the room. I need you now. She made her way to the recovery area, to the bacta tank where her husband was recovering. Although she couldn't see him, it gave her some measure of comfort to be close to him, as irrational as that seemed. It was there that Urru found her a short time later.

"I thought I might find you here," Urru said as he walked over to Padmé.

Padmé looked up at him. "I'm here a lot," she told him, looking back at the tank.

Urru watched her for a moment, trying to decide how to say what was on his mind. "Did you know your friend the Viceroy was in the hospital recently himself?" he began, deciding that this was as good a segue as he could think of.

Padmé looked back at him. "Was he?" she asked.

Urru nodded. "Heart attack," he replied. "You know anything about that? Did Leia tell you?"
Padmé frowned, unsure if she had or not. "She may have," she replied. "I'm not certain. How awful for him."

Urru nodded. "It was a pretty bad one too," he continued. "He's back with the Rebellion now though, so everything's good," he added.

"That's good," she replied. "He's under a lot of stress," she remarked.

"Oh it wasn't stress that caused it," Urru replied. "At least, not entirely."

Padmé got the impression that he was trying to make a point. "What is it you're trying to say?" she asked finally, turning to face him.

"It was Vader that caused Organa's heart attack," Urru said, not mincing any words. "He came looking for you, and threatened the Viceroy. The poor bastard collapsed after Vader left, his assistant found him on his office floor."

Padmé's frown deepened, and she turned away from him again. "He was desperate to find me," she began. "He..."
"He's an unfeeling monster who doesn't care who he hurts so long as he gets what he wants," Urru cut in. "And that won't change now just because he's out of that suit, Padmé. Surely you know that."

Padmé said nothing in response, for the very same thoughts had been plaguing her for weeks now.

"No one can say that with certainty," she responded finally. "His actions lately would indicate that he has changed," she went on. "He put himself in the way of Palpatine's sith lightening to protect Luke."

Urru nodded. "Yeah, and he handed over the man his daughter loves to a bounty hunter," he added.

"Han was given an opportunity to avoid that fate," she pointed out hotly. "But he refused."

Urru wasn't impressed, but said nothing for a moment or two. He knew this was a sensitive topic for Padmé; but he also knew how fragile she was, how the past two decades had eroded the once confident, self-reliant woman she had been. He wasn't about to let her love for the man she had once loved make her do something she'd regret.

"How can you still love him, Padmé?" he asked her finally. "After everything he put you through, everything he did to you," he went on. "I know you blame Palpatine for your imprisonment, but Vader's as much to blame as he was," he continued.

"He knew nothing about my imprisonment!" she cried angrily.

"No, but if he hadn't attacked you on Mustafar, would you have had such a hard time when the twins were born?" he asked. "He should have been with you," he went on, unrelenting. "If he truly cared..."
"Stop!" she cried. "I don't want to hear another word! I owe you my life Urru, but that doesn't give you the right to do this to me!"

Urru said nothing in response, and part of him felt badly for going after her so hard. But the larger part felt it was his duty to protect her, and in his mind, Darth Vader still posed a very large threat to her.

"I'm sorry," he said finally. "I know you don't want to hear this," he added, trying to be sensitive, "but I have to speak my mind. I'm worried that the past you had with this man is preventing you from seeing the reality of the present. You're vulnerable to him, Padmé, can't you see that? And he's not above using that to his advantage. Don't think for a minute that he wouldn't take advantage of your love for him because he'd do it in a heartbeat."

Padmé said nothing, his words making her too angry to respond. Urru realized that she wasn't going to answer him, and simply left her to contemplate what he had said, hoping she'd see the truth behind it all.