Chapter 21
The Rancor
***
Two of the guards stepped forward and disarmed Leia. They were about to push the princess back to stand with the two men and the Wookiee when a barked command from Jabba stopped them.
"Bring her to me!"
To Han's dismay, Leia was dragged forward and shoved roughly against the Hutt's swollen belly. He tried to follow, to rescue his princess from the vile gangster, but two pairs of strong hands stopped him. He had to watch in impotent rage as Jabba's tongue darted out and the Hutt placed a slobbering kiss on Leia's mouth. The princess bent backwards, intent on escaping the Hutt's repulsive affections, but she, too, was held in a grip too strong to break.
"You will regret this. We have powerful friends", Leia choked out between gritted teeth.
Jabba leered at her. "Soon you will learn to appreciate me", he promised in his native language.
"Take the men away. And dress the girl in something more appropriate", Jabba ordered, the leer evident even in his voice.
Han struggled against the hands holding him back, but to no avail. Anakin and Chewbacca were both much stronger than him.
***
The massive iron gates to Jabba's palace rumbled upward, revealing a black-robed figure against the light of the twin suns rising. Luke Skywalker strode purposefully into the hall. Two Gamorrean guards stepped forward to block his way. Luke gazed calmly at the advancing guards and lifted his hand, gathering the Force around him. The two guards choked, suddenly unable to breathe, and stumbled back. Releasing them from his invisible grip, Luke strode past them. The guards did not follow, thoroughly cowed by the Jedi's display of his powers.
The next obstacle in Luke's path arose in the form of Bib Fortuna, Jabba's Twi'Lek majordomo.
"You may not pass", Fortuna told him in Hutteese.
"I am here to speak to Jabba", Luke answered.
"The great Jabba is asleep."
Luke held the Twi'Leks gaze with his own and once more employed the Force, this time to bend the other's will to his own. "You will take me to Jabba now", he intoned.
Fortuna's yellowish eyes glazed over. "I will take you to Jabba now", he parroted and turned to lead the Jedi to his master.
"You serve your master well", Luke observed with a smug grin. "You will be rewarded."
Pleased, Fortuna echoed the Jedi's words and hurried along.
*** On a farm not far from the palace, as planetary distances go, two men loaded weapons and equipment into a speeder.
"Hurry up, Jixton", Veers commanded. "We have quite a distance to cover to the palace. We got to be going if we want to make it till noon."
"We're not taking the main road", Jix replied, lugging another bag with thermal detonators into the speeder's back seat. "Don't want to announce that we're coming."
"Of course not. What was I thinking", Veers muttered. "It's still quite a distance if we're going through the desert. We have to go around the mountains."
"Not quite, General. There is a shortcut through the canyons. Of course, it's creeping with Sandpeople, so you want to keep your blaster ready", the ex- sergeant and mercenary grinned, hefting a blaster rifle and checking the charge on the weapon's magazine.
Veers rolled his eyes. "Of course", he sighed.
***
In the main hall, the Hutt slept on a raised dais, his new slave Leia, now adorned in a dancer's costume, chained to him. She, too, was dozing, preserving her energy for the fight she knew would come later.
Luke stepped in front of the dais, waiting for Fortuna to wake the Hutt from his slumber. For a moment, his gaze rested on Leia. How thin she had become. Those past months had been hard on her. He silently reached out to her. Soon, my friend, he thought. Soon, sweet Leia.
Fortuna climbed onto the dais and whispered into Jabba's ear. The Hutt's eyes snapped open.
"Finally! Master Luke has come to rescue me!" C3PO shouted from his place at Jabba's elbow. No-one listened to him.
"Master - Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight", Fortuna introduced Luke in a smooth voice.
"Fool!" Jabba roared, "I told you not to let him in!"
Luke took a step closer. "I must be allowed to speak", he said quietly, focussing his mental powers.
"He must be allowed to speak", Fortuna repeated, still under Luke's influence.
"Fool! He's using an old Jedi mind trick!" Jabba thundered.
"You will bring my friends to me", Luke said and tried to get a grip on Jabba's mind.
Jabba sneered. "Your mental powers don't work on me, boy."
"Nevertheless, I will take Captain Solo and my friends with me. You can either profit from this, or you can die. The choice is yours. But I warn you not to underestimate my powers."
Jabba hollered with laughter; this little Jedi had guts! To bad he was going to die.
"There will be no deal, Jedi. I will enjoy watching you die!" he roared.
Luke started into action, stretching out his hand and ripping the blaster from one of the guards with the Force just as Jabba hit the switch that opened the trap door beneath the Jedi's feet. Luke tumbled down into the dungeon, along with a Gamorrean guard who immediately started to scream and scrambled for the blaster. Luke let him; he could always retrieve the weapon from him if he needed it. For now, he stepped back, freeing himself from his long robe and looked around, taking in his surroundings.
He was in a roughly hewn stone room, the floor covered with gnawed bones. The air was filled with the stench of rotting flesh. A large grate was on the far side of the room, the only access to the room except for the trap door in the ceiling. Now the grate opened, and there was movement in the darkness beyond it. Something large was coming. The Gamorrean screamed in fear, trying to scramble up the walls to escape the horror that shambled through the iron gate.
The Rancor, a reptilian monster half the size of a Bantha, clicked its long razor-sharp claws and gnashed its mouth filled with equally sharp teeth. It was a nightmare come to life. And it advanced on Luke.
The young Jedi Knight fell back, his gaze darting from one side to the other, searching for a way to escape his certain death by the creature. The Rancor, however, was not interested in Luke at all. At least, not yet. The Gamorrean's screams had wakened the creature's hunting instincts, and its hunger. With a speed that belied its bulk as well as its shambling gait, the Rancor reached the guard and grabbed him with one taloned paw, bringing him up to its giant mouth and biting the pig-like Gamorrean in half. The squeals stopped immediately.
In two giant gulps, the Gamorrean was gone, and the Rancor began to look for more food. Its gaze fell on Luke Skywalker.
Luke scrambled back, keeping as much distance as possible between himself and the creature. What he would not give to have his lightsaber now! But the weapon was safely stored inside a compartment in R2D2's head, out of reach for now. He would have to make do with what he found here. His eyes darted around, searching for the blaster the guard had dropped in his death throes. There it was... unfortunately, "there" was under the Rancor's clawed foot, and "it" was a twisted mass of metal, barely recognizable as a blaster anymore. Damn.
Luke's searching hand touched a long bone, remains of an earlier victim, and grabbed it. Holding it in front of him like a lightsaber, Luke let the Rancor advance on him. He had only one chance.
The monster grabbed Luke around the waist with one giant claw and effortlessly lifted the young Jedi up to its gaping maw. Lightning-quick, Luke rammed the thigh bone between the snapping jaws, blocking them. The Rancor screamed and dropped its recalcitrant meal, hunger forgotten for the moment. Clawing at its own mouth it attempted to get rid of the bone. Diving between the Rancor's legs, Luke managed to get behind the giant creature and threw himself into the entranceway, only to find his path to safety blocked by another gate.
With brute strength, the Rancor snapped the bone in half. Its small brain could only focus on one task at the time, and it only now remembered the meal that had temporarily escaped. Screeching in anger and frustration, it turned around, scanning the room with crazed eyes.
Luke froze as the Rancor fixed its beady eyes on him again. This time, there was no room to escape from the creature. He had to find another way.
The creature advanced with long steps, and within seconds reached the first gate just as Luke saw a possibility to kill it. Grabbing a skull from the ground, the Jedi threw the morbid projectile on a control panel, smashing it, resulting in the first gate crashing down on the Rancor's neck. The creature was killed almost instantly. Luke let out a breath he did not remember holding and slumped back against the rough wall next to the second gate. Jabba's enraged scream rang in his ears.
***
Hands bound behind their backs, Anakin, Han and Chewbacca were dragged unceremoniously before the Hutt were they were joined by Luke, who was equally manacled.
"Luke! How's it going?" Han cried in greeting.
"Same as always", Luke replied, smiling.
"That bad, huh?" the Correllian quipped.
Anakin smiled as well. He was finally with his son. "Luke", he said simply, reaching out with his mind at the same time, offering a more personal greeting.
"Father", Luke acknowledged before turning to face Jabba.
"Talk droid", the gangster rumbled. 3PO answered the summons.
"I am here, your high exaltedness."
The Hutt spoke in his native language, voice shaking with anger, and the droid translated: "The great Jabba has decreed that you will all die immediately for this outrage."
"Good! I hate long waits", Anakin joked. On Han's stare, he shrugged. "I always had trouble showing patience, or so I'm told", he explained.
Slightly flustered by the interruption, 3PO continued: "You will be brought to the Dune sea and thrown into the Great Pit of Carcoon, the resting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc. In his belly, you will learn a new dimension of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over the course of a thousand years."
"On second thought, let's pass on that", Solo muttered. Chewie growled his agreement. Only Anakin seemed unperturbed.
"Aren't you afraid we'll give your pet indigestion?" he called as the guards dragged him away.
***
To be continued