Chapter 18 – Unexpected Company
The cockpit of the Millennium Falcon was once again a center of activity as the ship neared the Alderaan system, and these conditions did wonders to improve her pilot's mood. Expecting to be rid of his passengers and in possession of the remainder of the transit fee within a few hours, Han was in the familiar position of hovering over the navigation station while Chewbacca managed the helm as the hyperspace counter timed out.
"Stand by, Chewie, here we go," Han called out coolly. "Cut in the sub-light engines."
Chewbacca made the necessary adjustments to disengage the hyperdrive, and the expected starlines immediately appeared outside the cockpit. Han turned to slide back into his pilot's chair to prepare for their approach to Alderaan, but instead of the graceful image of the fertile planet appearing to greet them, the surrounding space resolved itself to reveal a deadly storm of asteroids hurtling toward them out of the nothingness. Huge chunks of rock began battering at the ship, rocking the freighter violently from the barely deflected impacts before either pilot or co-pilot had a chance to register the danger. The only thing that saved the ship from being immediately pummeled into oblivion was Han's cautious practice as a veteran smuggler to always come out of hyperspace with the shields fully powered.
"What the..?!" the thoroughly shocked pilot exclaimed as he hurriedly grabbed for the Falcon's maneuvering controls. Instinctively suppressing the moment of panic that might have overtaken a less experienced pilot, Han immediately adjusted their course to move the ship out of the expanding debris field, but his dismayed confusion remained.
"Aw… we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower. Some kind of asteroid collision," he ventured a stuttering explanation to his equally shocked copilot as the two struggled to keep the ship in one piece long enough to escape the hazard. "It's not on any of the charts."
Han knew that to be true from the countless hours he had spent repeatedly going over their plotted course during this boring journey, just as he knew there had been no mistake in the jump calculations. Yet at the first opportunity he spared a moment to verify the navigational readouts. The data only showed what he already knew to be true. "Our position's correct, except…no Alderaan," he announced in bewilderment.
Chewie howled in aggravated frustration at the impossibility of that conclusion, refusing to accept it and pressing Han for another explanation as the Falcon passed out of immediate danger.
"I don't know!" Han responded, irritated. "It's just not there. It's been totally blown away."
"Destroyed… by the Empire," a voice proclaimed from behind the pilot. The tone of the Jedi's voice contained an interesting mixture of certainty and astonishment as he surveyed the devastation through the cockpit. Obi-Wan could not begin to fathom how such an atrocity could be accomplished, but the voices lingering here cried out "MURDER!". There was only one entity in this galaxy capable of perpetrating this level of vile deeds.
"Impossible!" Han immediately dismissed the declaration from his crazy passenger, annoyed once again that the old man had slipped into the cockpit uninvited. "The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the planet. It would take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've…"
An alarm sounded from the sensors' board, interrupting Han's retort and immediately snapping his attention away from his passenger. "There's another ship coming in," Han announced seriously to Chewie. Convinced of the unfriendly nature of their visitor by the targeting lock the sensors had detected and the lack of a hailing call, the pilot immediately activated the Falcon's automated cannon fire to the harass the fighter as it overtook them. While this did encourage the other ship to flee rather than engage the larger freighter, the small fighter was much too agile to be destroyed so easily.
"It's an Imperial fighter. Short range," Obi-Wan concluded just before the readouts from the sensors provided Han with the same information.
"There aren't any bases around here. Where'd it come from?" Han demanded from no one in particular, too concerned with the implications of the fighter's presence to worry about how Obi-Wan had known of its origin.
"It couldn't have gotten this deep into space on its own," Obi-Wan replied, growing more apprehensive as the fighter sped away. The hairs on the back of the Jedi's neck were beginning to stand on end as the Force warned him of the TIE pilot's intentions. "Let it go," he advised. "It's already identified us and will report soon."
"Not if I can help it," Han snapped back. "Chewie, jam it's transmissions. Increase power to the sub-light engines and lay in a pursuit course," he ordered, determined to catch the fighter and eliminate the concern.
Chewbacca complied without comment, and the Falcon slowly began closing the distance to the TIE racing at full speed away from them. Obi-Wan stared intently into the ether as the chase ensued, trying to gain a grasp on the elusive taunts and warnings permeating the Force. The dark side was strong here, seeming to dovetail through the exhaust of the fighter ahead of them to lead them onward toward some new menace.
Off in the distance, a glowing orb was growing steadily brighter, marking it as the destination of the determined TIE pilot.
"Looks like its heading for that moon. There must be an Imperial base there," Han concluded, though in the back of mind this thought conflicted with his knowledge of galactic topography. According to the charts, Alderaan had no moon. Han dismissed the incongruity as immaterial at the moment. They'd be out of there just as soon as the fighter was destroyed, and the distance was closing more rapidly now. "I think I can get him before he gets there… He's almost in range."
Obi-Wan gave the object a deeper inspection, and reached a different a conclusion as to its nature. The Jedi could feel the artificial quality of the energy emanating from every element of that creation, and the Force whispered that there was the means by which the Empire's agents had wrought such horrific destruction upon the peaceful of world Alderaan. "That's no moon," he declared in dread. "It's a space station."
"It's too big to be a space station!" Han objected, though that rejection trailed off to awe as he inspected more closely the object quickly growing larger in the viewport. The glow coming from that sphere was different than any light reflections Han had ever seen coming off a natural body, and the features he had initially taken for crater impacts and large rifts or mountain ridges now seemed far too regular in their outlines to be geographic formations. His eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped slightly as he continued to study the object, seeking any explanation for what he was seeing that would fall more neatly into what he considered feasible.
"Turn the ship around," Obi-Wan commanded, his usual calm demeanor more animated with worry and insistence.
"Yeah… I think you're right," Han slowly conceded, deep concern now filling his thoughts also. If that thing were truly a weapon of the Empire and the ruin of Alderaan was evidence of what it left in its wake… Like a switch, Han snapped out of his awestruck inspection and translated his growing anxiety into action. "Full reverse, Chewie. Lock in the auxiliary power," he commanded with conviction as he began his own efforts to bring the ship about at all possible speed.
The Falcon bucked in response to these actions, setting off systems' alarms and making it immediately apparent that something was wrong. The violent shuddering that followed, coupled with Han's inability to even slightly change their heading, told the pilot that the difficulties were caused by a tractor beam lock on the ship. That development in and of itself was not enough to cause overt alarm in the seasoned smuggler as Han had broken out of such traps before by applying the proper amount power and finesse. Convinced that at this range the lock could not be that solid, he was confident in those first seconds that he could do so again. However, that confidence began to quickly erode as Han's best attempts succeeded only in amplifying the freighter's shudders.
"Chewie! Lock in the auxiliary power!" Han repeated more forcefully as he realized that his copilot had become otherwise occupied before completely fulfilling his orders.
This time Chewbacca broke off from his attempts at managing the Falcon's straining systems for the moment it took to carry out that order, but the additional power still did nothing to slow their approach to the enormous space station. Instead, the protesting whine of the Falcon's engines achieved an ominous level, and previously borderline systems began sounding their overload klaxons.
"It's too late," Obi-Wan whispered softly, mostly to himself as he became the first to accept their fate. "They have us."
"Shavit! And there's nothing I can do about it!" Han cursed in frustration as he gave his systems' readouts one last review and assessed the failures to be imminent. "I'm going to have to shut down," he conceded as he quickly performed the necessary actions. Yet a defiant gleam remained in his eyes when he set his glare on the station housing his captors. He had lost this round, but he'd be damned if he was just going to surrender. "They're not going to take me without a fight," he vowed.
"It's a fight you can't win," the Jedi admonished mildly, "but there are alternatives to fighting."
The pilot turned to eye his passenger suspiciously. He had that over-confident look about him again that set Han so on edge. Still, the old man apparently had a plan, which was more than Han could say for himself at the moment.
***
Vader stood by the large oval table that swallowed most of the space in Tarkin's conference room, alone with the Governor as the two of them reviewed the reports of the hapless ships that continued to enter the Alderaan system. The vessels that were not immediately destroyed by the wild asteroid field that now existed in place of that planet were ordered to heave to for Imperial inspection. The majority of those ships were quickly released after minimal harassment once the command crew was provided a clear explanation for the cause of the planet's absence. By this method, Tarkin was ensuring the tale Alderaan's demise would quickly spread to the farthest reaches of the Empire, but there was very little in these records to garner the Dark Lord's interest. Vader was glad for the interruption of an officer entering to deliver a report.
"Yes?" Tarkin inquired, looking up from his desk to address the junior officer now standing at attention before him.
"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine," Officer Cass began with military formality, his voice devoid of all emotion. "They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems."
The officer quickly nodded in respect at the conclusion of his brief report and took the darkening look of fury Governor Tarkin was aiming at Lord Vader as his cue to depart. As the doors closed behind Cass, Tarkin bolted out of his chair in barely controlled anger.
"She lied! She lied to us!" he hollered at Vader in outraged disbelief.
Vader smiled to himself, very pleased that the young woman had not disappointed him. "I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion," he gloated.
Trembling with his rage at both the girl and Vader's calm acceptance of her deception, Tarkin strode around the table to confront the Dark Lord that had also failed to obtain any useful information. "Terminate her... immediately!" he ordered.
"Calm yourself, Governor," Vader advised him patiently. "She is still the only link we have to the Rebellion. Would you destroy that so casually?"
"Faugh!" Tarkin hissed back. "You just said it yourself. She'll never give us that base willingly. Your interrogations have proven worthless, and Arkus seems more concerned with other attributes she possesses. She is of no value to us now and must be punished appropriately for her treason."
An insistent beep from the communications terminal distracted Tarkin from his tirade, and gave the Governor some small outlet for his frustration as he reached over to roughly acknowledge the page from one of the table's secondary terminals. "Yes, what is it?" he demanded irritably of the caller.
"We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system," a voice responded instantly. "Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley."
"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the Princess," Vader declared, quickly seizing the opportunity before the Governor could comment. "She may yet be of some use to us."
Tarkin removed his finger from the audio send button and paused to contemplate this possibility for a moment before grudgingly conceding the point with an exasperated sigh. "Very well," he said to Lord Vader. "Investigate this, but the order to terminate will stand unless you discover something of value," he insisted as he waved the Dark Lord off to pursue his new task.
Pleased that the captured ship's timely arrival had provided such a convenient excuse to belay Tarkin's irrational order concerning the Princess, Vader once again allowed the Governor some illusion of authority in this matter with a strained fractional nod to acknowledge his wishes. The Dark Lord did, of course, have a genuine interest in discovering what information the captured ship might yield on the still missing Death Star plans, and most especially in how that information might be used to aid in his own exploitation of the Princess. It was these thoughts that added purpose to his stride as he left the Governor to join up with a commander from the bridge and head for the relevant docking bay.
The size of the station made the pair's journey to the bay long enough to justify the initial boarding of the ship being executed in their absence, but as they approached their destination something at the edge of Vader's consciousness began nagging at him, making him question the wisdom of that decision. Finding that the situation appeared to be well under control upon his arrival did little to assuage his concern. There was something here, taunting him through the Force and clearly communicating that there was more to this ship than was readily apparent.
He halted at the base of the ramp leading into the freighter, studying the dilapidated vessel with acute interest as he awaited the officer in charge of the boarding party. That officer, flanked by several heavily armed troops, exited the ship shortly thereafter and immediately approached Lord Vader to deliver his report.
"There's no one on board, sir. According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff." Suspecting this to be disappointing news to the Dark Lord, the officer attempted to redeem himself by offering his explanation. "It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned."
Vader was indeed unsatisfied with the report, but somehow unsurprised at it. "Did you find any droids?" he inquired as he continued his own scan of the ship using the Force.
"No, sir," the officer quickly replied. "If there were any on board, they must also have jettisoned."
Only half listening discontentedly to the officer before him, Vader focused harder on a fleeting sensation that had caught his attention only to disappear again without a trace. It had just been a glimmer, but it served to remind him of a presence from his past that he had long believed extinct. The feeling deeply disturbed Vader and filled him with the infuriating sense that something of vital importance was being overlooked.
"Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of the ship checked," Vader ordered the commander that had accompanied him. "Report any findings to me at once."
"As you wish, My Lord," the commander immediately concurred, coming to full attention at the frightening tone in Vader's voice.
Darth Vader grumbled in annoyance as he sensed these efforts would be unsuccessful. There was something powerful behind this, and answers would not be found in a timely manner by conventional means. Whirling about in agitation, Vader stalked out of the docking bay to head for his meditation chamber. The Sith Lord would seek his own insight through the Force.
***
The stormtroopers searching the Millennium Falcon were thorough in their task, but they remained unaware of the smuggling compartments hidden beneath the decking panels of the ship's main corridor. Han crouched silently within one of those compartments with his pistol drawn, listening intently to the heavy footfalls of the Imperials as they progressed through his ship. The moments of anxious waiting passed by slowly for the pilot, and the feel of the hot breath of his Wookie friend sharing the confined space only added to the tension of the situation. Not that Han minded being in such close quarters with Chewbacca. The two of them had certainly been in such tight spots before, and in this instance the arrangement would give them at least a chance at taking out the first group of troops should they be discovered. But the pilot was disinclined to hiding like this in the first place. Feeling trapped and just a little cowardly for employing this tactic, Han nevertheless had to admit that the old man's plan seemed to have bought them some time and perhaps the element of surprise.
After several moments of silence throughout the ship, Han strained to lift the cover off the compartment and cautiously peered out. He was greeted only by the sight of Obi-Wan shoving a similar cover off of the compartment he had hidden in with the droids. Convinced they were safe for the moment, Han pulled himself clear of his hiding place to give Chewbacca sufficient room to stand up, then turned to address the old man.
"This is ridiculous," Han scoffed. "All you've accomplished is to smuggle us into the most heavily outfitted space station I've ever seen. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam."
"Leave that to me," Obi-Wan replied confidently as he began working himself out his own compartment.
"Damn fool. I knew you were going to say that," Han snapped bitterly.
Obi-Wan looked back at the pilot with a mischievous smirk. "Who is the more foolish... the fool or the fool who follows him?"
Han replied with a scowl to which Obi-Wan admonished more seriously, "Enough of this nonsense. Either you trust me or you don't. We don't have much time."
Han tried staring down the old man, but when Chewbacca emerged and howled his concern, he conceded that this was not the time to alienate even a crazy ally. Besides, they were dead already by any sane consideration of the situation. Maybe a little insanity was called for so long as it didn't require surrender. "Okay, old man, but Chewie and I will handle the scan crew when they show up."
"Just what I was going to suggest," Obi-Wan agreed. "But see to it that you do so quietly."
Content to have won this minor point from his recalcitrant passenger, Han let the unsolicited advice slide. He simply dismissed Obi-Wan with a gesture to take his droids into hiding somewhere while he and Chewbacca prepared to lay in wait for the scanning crew sure to be coming. They didn't have to wait for long. Soon a muffled discussion could be heard at the base of the boarding ramp followed by the entrance of footfalls decidedly light when compared to those of the stormtroopers.
The two technicians boarding the ship had barely managed to haul their cumbersome equipment case into the main corridor when Chewbacca ambushed them from a connecting passageway. Caught totally unaware, neither man had an opportunity to call out before the powerful Wookie reached out and smashed their two heads together, shattering both of their skulls. Only the loud bang of the equipment case crashing to floor provided any indication that something was wrong.
Han quickly seized on the opportunity to lure the guards in as well. "Hey down there, could you give us a hand with this?" he called out and was soon rewarded with the approach of the stormtroopers.
This time Han met the intruders at the top of the ramp with a brief burst of blaster fire. The stormtroopers never had a chance to return fire, and there were no frantic calls from the landing bay to suggest anyone had noticed the disturbance. Satisfied with his accomplishment, Han turned to his passenger now emerging from the hold, expecting to receive some acknowledgement, but instead the old man was wincing in apparent response to the noise, though he gave no verbal reprimand. The insulted pilot was preparing a defensive retort, but Obi-Wan seemed to dismiss his misgivings and pushed on to the next problem before Han could form any words.
"You'll need to put on that armor," Obi-Wan commanded, pointing to the fallen stormtroopers. "Those guards won't be missed be for long, and you'll be able to provide a distraction for Chewbacca and me to take the bay control station."
There it was again, that automatic assumption of control accompanied by a confidence that made arguing with the old man seem a futile endeavor. To add to the effect, the Jedi moved past Chewbacca and strode down the ramp before either smuggler had a chance to protest his plan. Dumbfounded, Han simply looked after him for a second then gestured to the concerned Wookie to follow before the old man went and did something stupid.
Watching Chewbacca depart to assist in the assault did little to increase Han's confidence in their chances, and Threepio emerging from the hold worsened his outlook still more. He greeted the droid's pose of confusion with a scowl and addressed it irritably before it could speak. "Get outta here. I don't want to look at you."
"Yes, sir," Threepio replied hurriedly, managing to sound insulted in the process. "Come on, Artoo. You'd better follow me," he then advised his counterpart, and the two droids quickly moved down the ramp under Han's silent glare.
Left alone on-board the Falcon, Han cursed continuously under his breath as he began his struggle to remove the least damaged armor from its previous owner, then don it himself. Curling his lips in disgust, he saved the musty helmet for last and situated it on his head just moments before the comlink embedded inside crackled to life.
"TK-421 why aren't you at your post. TK-421, do you copy?" a voice barked at him.
Han played his role in this ridiculous ruse, descending the ramp and signaling a comm failure with a gesture to his helmet to buy Chewie more time to take out the control station. He then waited there like a sitting decoy for all hell to break loose. As soon as he heard the first blaster fire, Han ran for the control station.
***
The gantry officer in the control station looked out his window toward the captured freighter, waiting with some concern for an answer from the missing guards. The sight of one of the troopers descending the ship's ramp to signal a comm problem replaced that concern with irritation. Shaking his head in disgust, the officer gave his aide an annoyed look as he headed for the door. "Take over," he ordered. "We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do with it."
Activating the door's controls and moving forward even before the door had been completely opened, the gantry officer nearly collided with the towering form of a Wookie engulfing the opening. The officer stumbled backward in a state shock from the thundering roar issued by the beast, too stunned to react further before Chewbacca's massive fist flattened him with a single blow. The aide, given the benefit of a warning at his officer's expense, quickly drew his pistol and took aim at the Wookie.
Realizing his exposed condition too late to prevent the Imperial from firing upon him, Chewbacca quickly moved back into the corridor to seek cover while he brought his bow caster to bear. His actions would have been insufficient to avert injury had it not been for Obi-Wan stepping forward, igniting his lightsaber with lightening speed to deflect the laser blast intended for Chewbacca back into the aide. The Imperial was dead from that single shot before his body hit the floor. With no other threat facing them, Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber just as quickly as he had brought it out.
Chewbacca watched the aide crumple to the floor, not quite sure if he could believe what he had just seen as the old tales of the Jedi that were still whispered in some corners of the galaxy came back to his mind. He then turned to gape with stunned amazement at the man he had taken for a delusional and somewhat peculiar nuisance and gently howled his appreciation, looking upon this human with newfound respect.
Obi-Wan sensed the change in the Wookie's attitude, but spared little effort to acknowledge it beyond nodding his acceptance of Chewbacca's gratitude. The Jedi then immediately concentrated on the assets they had gained, seeking out the row of control panels and computer terminals lining the station's walls and deciphering their purpose as he walked slowly by them.
Chewbacca left him to this undertaking and turned his attention to clearing the doorway of the dead officer so the waiting droids could enter. He then went to retrieve the body of the aide to place it with the other in order to minimize the obstructions in the room should the tables be turned on them shortly.
Han came running up to the scene just as the droids entered the station and Chewbacca finished piling the Imps to one side of the doorway. After surveying the small control room they had managed to secure, he was more than a little surprised to find nothing for him to do other than close the door behind him. Accomplishing that small task with a "Hmph", Han then quickly removed the annoying helmet he wore and moved to the station's observation windows to inspect the bay and his ship from this new vantage point. Chewbacca also took up a sentry position, instinctively placing himself to guard the door from across the room as he waited for a decision on their next move.
"Artoo, plug in over here," Obi-Wan called out, gesturing to one of the computer outlets. "You should be able to interpret the entire Imperial network from here. Bring up everything you can access on the tractor beam power and control system."
Artoo replied with a consenting beep and moved to the designated computer outlet with Threepio in tow. The network came to life at the astromech's command, feeding his electronic brain with an astounding data stream. Sifting quickly through the information, Artoo let out a burst of excited whistles when he located the pertinent data.
"He says he's found the main control to the power beam that's holding the ship," Threepio automatically interpreted. "He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor."
Obi-Wan nodded his approval and then leaned in close to study the screen intently as Artoo began scrolling through myriad functional diagrams on the screen, each display showing the next the segment of the path the Jedi would need to take. Prompted by his counterpart, Threepio provided a narration of additional information. "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." The brief presentation concluded with the diagram of the closest power station appearing on the screen with the pertinent controls highlighted.
Han watched this show with acute interest, knowing that disabling the tractor beam at the power source was the only option that would enable them to escape. However, he was unable to absorb enough information from the rapid presentation to even begin to formulate a plan for achieving that goal. The old man, on the other hand, gave the appearance of having assimilated every detail as he stared in contemplation at the last display.
Obi-Wan finished his considerations then turned to the waiting pilot. "I don't think you two can help with this," he advised Han. "You'd better stay here and watch over the droids."
If those words had been uttered by any other being, Han would likely have been taken aback, but coming from the old man, they were almost expected now. "Whatever you say. I've done more on this trip than I bargained for already," Han readily agreed, not the least bit anxious to follow this fool on a suicide mission.
Obi-Wan moved to the door but stopped just after opening it, suddenly none too confident about his chances of surviving this mission. Filled with concern over the data contained in Artoo, he looked back to the pilot and appealed to the better man he knew to be buried underneath the hard exterior. "If anything happens to me, you must see these droids delivered to the Rebel Alliance or more star systems will suffer the fate of Alderaan. Artoo will help you locate contacts. May the Force be with you," he added, then quickly left and closed the door behind him before Han had a chance to object.
Han stared after the old man in disbelief, now completely convinced that he was insane. He turned back to Chewie, expecting the Wookie had reached the same conclusion, and launched into a string of complaints. "Can you believe this guy? This is absurd! No way one geezer armed with a glow rod is going to take out that tractor beam. We've gotta come up with something else to get us out of here."
Chewbacca surprised his old friend by countering his criticism with a vote of confidence for the Jedi, supporting his argument by pointing out that following the man's advice had gotten them this far safely.
"What, did these Imps scramble your muddled brain?!" Han exclaimed in shocked disbelief at his friend's words. "That old fossil's no Jedi. At best he's crazed hermit that's gotten very good at dragging others into his fantasy world."
Chewbacca persisted somewhat defensively by explaining Obi-Wan's demonstrated skill with that "glow rod".
"So maybe he stumbled across a working lightsaber and practiced a little. He got lucky is all. That don't make him a Jedi," Han countered, refusing to be affected by his friend's argument. "Come on, think a little here. I'm gonna need you to get out of this."
Chewbacca reluctantly had to agree with Han's point. After all the Jedi were supposed to be extinct. How likely was it that one had survived and chosen to seclude himself in such strange and meager circumstances as this man apparently had? He was about to vocalize his concession when the R2 unit still plugged into the computer outlet emitted a loud burst of excited squeals.
Han spun on the little droid in irritation. "What the hell is his problem?" he demanded of protocol droid.
"I'm not sure, sir," Threepio began tentatively. "He says I found her, and keeps repeating she's here."
"Huh?" Han looked exasperated.
"Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, sir," Threepio provided after receiving additional information from Artoo. "She was captured by the Empire during the same battle that brought Artoo and me into Master Kenobi's service."
"Princess?!" Han exclaimed, still stuck on the first word Threepio had spoken. "Princess?! What the hell is this?!"
Chewbacca digested the news a little more evenly and took the last of half of the droids report as confirmation of his previous suspicion. "[He is a Jedi]," Chewie barked triumphantly at Han.
Han was too stunned trying to process the significance of what the droid had just said to protest his friend's proclamation. Either he was surrounded by complete lunatics, or their situation was a lot worse than he had originally estimated. If there was even a shred a truth in anything the old man or the droids had said, then he and Chewie were no longer just a couple of luckless smugglers that ran an Imperial blockade only to stumble into this station. The Imperials would take them as Rebel or Jedi sympathizers, and if captured, they would face gruesome interrogation and execution, rather than a tour at Kessel.
"I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated," Threepio added forlornly.
This tidbit of news completely overwhelmed the already distraught pilot. "Well now, ain't that a damn shame," he snapped sarcastically. "Too bad I'm no Jedi Knight with a shining laser sword ready to mount a rescue!"
The bitter stress in his voice succeeded in temporarily silencing the room's occupants. Han used the opportunity to clear his head and sort through the limited options he had available for developing a plan. With no good alternative presenting itself, he quickly decided that their best course of action was to follow the advice of the man Chewie took for a Jedi. Turning toward Chewbacca, he announced his decision, "We're staying right here."
The sad moan issued by Artoo in response needed no interpretation to communicate his concern over Princess Leia. Chewbacca looked inquisitively toward Han, wondering if some of his friend's occasional heroic tendencies would emerge in response to this plea. Though with little chance of receiving even an owed favor in return, Chewbacca could almost predict the answer.
"Look here, this ain't no fairy tale," Han harshly addressed the idealistic look in Chewie's eyes, "and we aren't going to do anybody any good getting captured ourselves. The old man wants us to wait here, so that's what we're going to do. At least we have a secure position and we're close enough to the Falcon to make it out of here quickly if that "Jedi" makes good on his promise." Satisfied he'd adequately answered Chewbacca, Han turned toward Threepio to cut off any further protest from the droids, "And tell that astromech to shut up before I decide to turn the lot of you over to the Imps in exchange for amnesty!"
The room grew silent once more, and Han encouraged it to remain so by plopping down stubbornly into one of the chairs. As he re-considered the difficulty he had encountered departing Tatooine in light of the recently added knowledge regarding his passengers, he truly began to wonder just what he had gotten himself into by accepting this fare. To top it off, he realized that somewhere in that argument he had all but accepted responsibility for delivering the droids. "Somehow I don't think I charged enough for this run," he muttered to himself as he settled in for what was sure to be a nerve-wracking wait.