Star Wars: Remix version
Chapter Forty-Seven: Lost
The stolen Imperial shuttle sat in a clearing of the moon's dark, primeval forest, dwarfed by the ancient towering trees. On an adjacent hill, the helmeted Rebel contingent made its way up a steep trail. Up ahead, Chewie and Leia reached a crest in the hill and dropped suddenly to the ground, signaling the rest of the group to stop. Han and Luke crawled up to take a look.
"Oh, I told you it was dangerous here" Threepio said nervously.
Not far below them, two imperial scouts were wandering through bushes in the valley below. Their two rocket bikes were parked nearby.
"Shall we try and go around?" Oola asked.
"It'll take time" Han said, shaking his head. "This whole party'll be for nothing if they see us" Leia motioned for the squad to stay put, then she, Han, Luke and Chewie started quietly down. Oola and Anna glanced at each other nervously, but stayed with the sqaud.
The four friends made their way to the edge of the clearing not far from the two Imperial scouts.
"Chewie and I will take care of this. You stay here" Han whispered.
"Quietly, there might be more of them out there" Luke reminded his friend.
"Hey... it's me" Han said grinning. Leia and Luke shot each other a glance as Han and Chewie turned and started through the bushes toward the scouts.
Han snuck up behind one of the scouts, stepped on a twig and the scout whirled, knocking Han into a tree. The scout shoutds for his companion.
"Go for help! Go!" He shouted. The second scout jumped on his speeder bike and took off, but Chewie got off a shot on his crossbow laser weapon, causing the scout to crash into a tree. Han and the first scout were in a rousing fistfight. Luke rolled his eyes.
"Great. Come on" Luke started for the scuffle, followed by Leia with her laser pistol drawn. As they ran through the bushes, Leia stopped and pointed to where two more scouts were sitting on their speeder bikes, with an unoccupied bike parked nearby.
"Over there! Two more of them!" She shouted.
"I see them. Wait, Leia!" Luke shouted as Leia raced for the remaining speeder bike. She started it up. Not about to let his sister out of his sight, Luke hopped on the bike and they took off. Han knocked the scout out and went back to the squad.
"Now what?" Anna asked.
"Now we wait" Han said, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Quick! Jam their comlink. Center switch!" Luke told his sister. Luke and Leia sped into the dense foliage in hot pursuit, barely avoiding two huge trees.
The two fleeing Imperial scouts had a good lead as Luke and Leia pursued through the giant trees at 200 miles an hour, the fire from their bike's laser cannon hitting harmlessly near the moving targets.
"Move closer!" Luke said. Leia gunned it, closing the gap, as the two scouts recklessly veered through a narrow gap in the trees. One of the bikes scraped a tree, slowing the scout. "Get alongside that one!" Leia pulled her speeder bike up so close to the scout's bike that their steering vanes scraped noisily. Luke leapt from his bike to the back of the scout's, grabbed the Imperial warrior around the neck, and flipped him off the bike, into a thick tree trunk. Luke gained control of the bike and followed Leia, who had pulled ahead. They tore off after the remaining scout.
"Get him!" Luke shoted.
The speeding chase passed two more imperial scouts. These two swung into pursuit, chasing Luke and Leia, firing away with their laser cannon. The two Rebels looked behind them just as Luke's bike took a glancing hit.
"Keep on that one! I'll take these two!" Luke said. With Leia shooting ahead, Luke suddenly slammed his steering vanes into the braking mode. Luke's bike was a blur to the two pursuing scouts as they zipped by him on either side. Luke slammed his bike into forward and started firing away, having switched places with his pursuers in a manner of seconds. Luke's aim was good and one scout's bike was blasted out of control. It exploded against a tree trunk. The scout's cohort took one glance back at the flash and shifted into turbo drive, going even faster. Luke kept on his tail. Far ahead, Leia and the first scout were going at highspeed through the death-dealing trunks. Now Leia aimed her bike skyward and rose out of sight. The scout turned in confusion, unable to see his pursuer. Suddenly, Leia dove down upon him from above, cannon blasting. The scout's bike took a glancing hit.
Leia moved in alongside him. The scout eyed her beside him, reached down, and pulled out a handgun. Before Leia could react, the scout blasted her bike, sending it out of control. Leia dove off as her bike explodes against a tree. The happy scout looked back at the explosion. But when he turned forward again, he was on a collision course with a giant fallen tree. He hit his brakes to no avail and disappeared in a conflagration.
Luke and the last remaining scout continued their weaving chase through the trees. Now Luke moved up close. The scout responded by slamming his bike into Luke's. A fallen tree formed a bridge across their path. The scout zipped under. Luke went over the top and crashed his bike down on the scout's. Both riders looked ahead - a wide trunk loomed directly in Luke's path, but the scout's bike beside him made it almost impossible for him to avoid it. Luke banked with all his might, leaning almost horizontal over the scout's bike, and was able to make it by, just clipping the tree. When he straightened, he and the scout discovered that their two bikes have locked front vanes and were moving as one.
Another big tree loomed in Luke's path. He reacted instinctively and dove off his bike. The two bikes came apart a second before Luke's exploded against a tree. The scout swept out and circled back to find Luke.
Luke rose from the undergrowth as the scout bore down on him and open fired with his laser cannon. Luke ignited his laser sword and began deflecting the bolts. The scout's bike kept coming and it appeared that in a second it would cut Luke in half. At the last instant, Luke stepped aside and chopped off the bike's control vanes with one mighty slash. The scout's bike began to shudder, then, pitching and rolling, it rose up to slam directly into a tree in a giant ball of fire.
Anna, Oola, Han, Chewie, and the droids, along with the rest of the squad, waited anxiously in the clearing. Artoo's radar screen stuck out of his domed head and revolved, scanning the forest. He beeped.
"Oh, General Solo, somebody's coming. Oh!" Threepio said nervously. The squad raised thier weapons. Luke stepped out of the foliage to find the weapons trained on him. He was too tired to care. He plopped himself down on a boulder and looked around.
"Luke!" Han said relieved, but then frowned. "Where's Leia?" Luke's head snapped up, and he looked concerned.
"What? She didn't come back?" She asked worriedly.
"I thought she was with you" Han accused. Luke sighed and ran a hand through his har.
"We got separated" He explained. The two men exchanged rim looks. Luke stood up wearily. "Hey, we better go look for her" Han nodded, and signaled to a Rebel officer.
"Take the squad ahead. We'll meet at the shield generator at 0300" He ordered. He turned to the women. "You should go with"
"No" Oola said firmly. Anna nodded her agreement.
"We're going with you" She said. Han didn't have time to argue, so he just nodded.
"Come on, Artoo. We'll need your scanners" Luke said. Anna, Oola, Luke, Chewie, Han, and the droids moved off in one direction as the squad proceeded in another.
"Don't worry, Master Luke. We know what to do" Threepio said. They moved off into the woods. "And you said it was pretty here. Ugh!" He muttered to Artoo.
A strange little furry face with huge black eyes came up upon Leia's still form. It was an Ewok, named Wicket. He seemed somewhat puzzled, and prodded Leia with a spear. The farm girl groaned; which frightened the stubby ball of fuzz and he prodded her again.
Leia sat up and stared at the three-foot-high Ewok. She tried to figure out where she was and what had happened. Her clothes were torn; she wass bruised and disheveled.
The Ewok jumped up and grabbed a four-foot-long spear, which he held in a defensive position. Leia watched him as he circled warily and began poking her with the sharp point of the spear.
"Cut it out!" Leia snapped. She stood up, and the Ewok quickly backed away. Leia smiled gently. "I'm not gonna hurt you" She said softly. She looked around at the dense forest, and at the charred remains of her speeder bike, then sat down, with a sigh, on a fallen log.
"Well, looks like I'm stuck here. Trouble is, I don't know where here is" She said, slightly depressed.
She put her head in her hands to rub away some of the soreness from her fall. She looked over at the watchful little Ewok and patted the log beside her.
"Well, maybe you can help me. Come on, sit down" She said. Wicket held his spear up warily and growled at her like a puppy. Leia patted the log again. "I promise I won't hurt you. Now come here" There were more growls and squeaks from the little bear creature. "All right. You want something to eat?"
She took a scrap of food out of her pocket and offered it to him. Wicket took a step backward, then cocked his head and moved cautiously toward Leia, chattering in his squeaky Ewok language.
"That's right. Come on. Hmmm?" Sniffing the food curiously, the Ewok came toward Leia and sat on the log beside her. She took off her helmet, and the little creature jumped back, startled again. He ran along the log, pointing his spear at her and chattering a blue streak. Leia held out the helmet to him. "Look, it's a hat. It's not gonna hurt you. Look. You're a jittery little thing, aren't you?" Reassured, Wicket lowered his spear and climbed back on the log, coming to investigate the helmet. Suddenly his ears perked up and he began to sniff the air. He looked around warily, whispering some Ewokese warning to Leia.
"What is it?" Leia asked. Suddenly a laser bolt came out of the foliage and exploded on the log next to Leia. Leia and Wicket both rolled backwards off the log, hiding behind it. Leia held her own laser gun ready, while Wicket disappeared underneath the log. Another shot, and still no sight of anyone in the forest. Then Leia sensed something and turned to find a large imperial scout standing over her with his weapon pointed at her head. He reached out his hand for her weapon.
"Freeze! Come on, get up!" He commanded.
She handed the weapon over, as a second scout emerged from the foliage in front of the log.
"Go get your ride and take her back to base" The first scout told the second one.
"Yes, sir"
The second scout started toward his bike, as Wicket, crouched under the log, extended his spear and hit the first scout on the leg. The scout jumped and let out an exclamation, and looked down at Wicket, puzzled. Leia grabbed a branch and knocked him out. She dove for his laser pistol, and the second scout, now on his bike, took off. Leia fired away and hit the escaping bike, causing it to crash into the first scout's bike, which flew end over end and exploded. The forest was quiet once more. Wicket poked his fuzzy head up from behind the log and regarded Leia with new respect. He mumbled his awe. Leia hurried over, looking around all the time, and motioned the chubby little creature into the dense foliage.
"Come on, let's get outta here" She said. As they moved into the foliage, Wicket took the lead. He shrieked and tugged at Leia to follow him.
Darth Sky walked down the corridor to the Emperor's Tower and private elevator. The Emperor's private guard stepped in Sky's path.
"Halt! The Emperor does not wish to be disturbed at the moment" The guard declared. Sky rose his gloved hand to the two guards and choking them with the Force. "The Emperor will see me, now!"
"The Emperor will see you, now" The guard said, repeating his words.
Two red Imperial Guards stood watch at the elevator as the door opened to reveal Sky. Sky entered the eerie, foreboding throne room. It appeared to be empty. His footsteps echoed as he approached the throne. He waited, absolutely still. The Emperor sat with his back to the Dark Lord.
"I told you to remain on the command ship" He said.
"A small Rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor" Sky reported. The Emperor was not surprised.
"Yes, I know" He said. Sky paused.
"Luke is with them"
"Are you sure?" Palapatine asked.
"I have felt him, my Master" Sky said.
"Then you must go to the Sanctuary Moon and wait for him" The Emperor said.
"He will come to me?" Sky asked.
"I have foreseen it. He will come to you and then you will bring him before me" The Emperor commanded.
"As you wish" The Dark Lord strode out of the throne room.
Anna, Oola, Han, Luke, Chewie, and the two droids were spread out as they moved through the heavy foliage near ta clearing.
Luke found Leia's helmet, picking it up with an expression of concern.
"Luke! Luke!" Anna cried. Luke ran with the helmet to where Anna and Oola had found the charred wreckage of a speeder bike in the grass.
"Oh, Master Luke" Threepio ventured.
"There's two more wrecked speeders back there. And I found this" Luke said. He tossed the helmet to Han.
"I'm afraid that Artoo's sensors can find no trace of Princess Leia" Threepio told them.
"I hope she's alright" Han said, looking at the helmet.
Chewbacca growled, sniffing the air, then, with a bark, pushed off through the foliage.
"What, Chewie? What? Chewie!" Han shouted.
The others rushed to keep up with the giant Wookiee. As he scooted along, Artoo whistled nervously.
