The Rancor and the Sarlaac
Thanks to Ironknight3307, skyjadeprincess, tanmarayann97, StargateTimeTraveller, DS2010, JustAnotherGuyonInternet and mjeffery416 for favouriting and following this story.
Early next morning, the doors of Jabba's palace opened to reveal a solitary figure dressed in a black hooded robe. This was Luke Skywalker himself. Luke strode calmly and determinedly into the palace. Two Gamorrean guards moved to block his way, but Luke simply raised his hand and used the Force to stun the two guards, who both fell back against the walls, clutching their throats. Luke pressed on and was soon making his way down the stairs towards the throne room. Bib Fortuna came upstairs to stop him. "Yo macka chipowan Skywalker." the Twi'lek said, "Jabba mo botowa tu."
"I must speak with Jabba." Luke said calmly
"Es tosit. Jabba no tosen di hunka bi." Fortuna continued to deny Luke entry, "No bargain."
"You will take me to Jabba now." Luke said, waving his hand and using the Force to influence Fortuna.
"Ataka bu Jabba now." Fortuna repeated, and began to led Luke down the stairs.
"You serve your master well." Luke said, continuing to use the Force to manipulate Fortuna.
"Ay sota vanlocha." Fortuna parroted
"And you will be rewarded."
"A chunoh ayo ahtot."
When Luke reached the throne room, he could see Jabba napping on his throne. Malia and Leia were both sat at the base of the throne, with chains attached to their necks binding them to Jabba, and they were both dressed in metal bikinis. Both women's faces lit up at the sight of Luke. "About time you got here." Malia whispered to her cousin
Threepio turned around and saw Luke. "At last! Master Luke's come to rescue us." he said in relief.
Fortuna meanwhile approached the sleeping Hutt. "Master." he said, waking Jabba up, "Gabba nopez Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight."
Jabba was not pleased to see the uninvited guest. "I told you not to admit him." he rumbled
"I must be allowed to speak." Luke said, using the Force to manipulate Fortuna, who repeated it in Huttese to Jabba.
Jabba growled and grabbed his major-domo by the neck. "You weak-minded fool! He's using an old Jedi mind trick!" he snarled, and threw Fortuna aside.
Luke lowered his hood, revealing that his once unkempt sandy blonde hair had been cut short and darkened, giving him a more mature and professional look. "You will bring Captain Solo, the Wookie and the girls to me." he told Jabba directly
Jabba gave a booming laugh. "Your mind powers will not work on me, boy." he gloated
Luke was undeterred. "Nevertheless, I'm taking Captain Solo and the others." he said coolly, stepping forward, "You can either profit from this... or be destroyed. It's your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate my powers."
"You should listen to him, Jabba." Malia said, "He could destroy you with just a single thought."
But Jabba was undeterred by the threat and yanked hard on Malia's chain to shut her up, causing her to gag as the metal dug into her neck. Threepio meanwhile noticed something else. "Master Luke, you're standing on..." he began, seeing that Luke was standing on the very trapdoor that the Twi'lek slave girl had fallen victim to.
"There will be no bargain, young Jedi." Jabba told Luke, who cast a glance to the disguised Lando nearby. "I shall enjoy watching you die." Jabba gloated
Luke promptly used the Force to snatch a blaster pistol from a guard and aimed it at Jabba, who slammed his fist down on the trapdoor button and both Luke and a Gamorrean guard who had tried to grab the Jedi's gun fell through the trapdoor and landed in a large pit below. Luke leapt to his feet and tossed his cloak aside, revealing a practical black outfit underneath. Suddenly, he heard a clang and looked round to see a heavy iron gate opening in one corner of the pit to reveal a huge, lumbering Rancor beast. Luke swallowed nervously, he'd heard stories about Rancors and know that if he were to stand any chance of surviving this, he'd have to think fast.
The Gamorrean guard squealed in terror and tried to climb back up through the trapdoor but was too fat and the Rancor stomped over to it and grabbed it. Meanwhile Jabba and his entourage all gathered round the grating to watch the show. Luke could only watch as the Rancor devoured the poor Gamorrean, then it turned towards him, ready to make him it's next meal. Thinking quickly, Luke looked around the pit for anything he could use as a weapon and he found a huge bone, no doubt from one of the Rancor's previous victims. Luke grabbed the bone just before the Rancor managed to grab him in one of it's gigantic claws and lifted him towards his mouth. Luke thrust his bone forward and used it to wedge the beast's mouth open.
The Rancor roared in pain and let Luke go, who scrambled behind some rocks to hide while he thought of something to get out of this. The Rancor managed to break the bone in two and stomped furiously towards Luke, who caught a glimpse of a door behind the open gate. Seeing his chance, Luke bashed the Rancor's claw with some of the rocks and made a break for the door. He opened it and ran through it only to find a grating blocking his way to freedom. The Rancor roared and turned towards Luke, stomping in his direction. Jabba's entourage all cheered, seeing that Luke's end was near. Luke sized up his options and saw the controls for the gate nearby. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a rock and judging his moment, threw it at the controls. The heavy iron gate came crashing down right on top of the Rancor's head, killing the mighty beast.
Jabba and his entourage were all laughing and enjoying themselves when suddenly they fell silent as they realised what had happened. Malia and Leia were delighted. "Yes! Go, Luke." Malia smiled, while Leia laughed in relief.
Jabba was furious. "Bring me Solo and the Wookie." he bellowed, "They will all suffer for this outrage."
~8~
Luke was soon being brought back up to the throne room. "Han!" he called, seeing Han and Chewbacca being brought up as well.
"Luke?" Han called back
"Are you alright?" Luke asked
"Fine." Han acknowledged. His hibernation sickness was wearing off now and he was starting to get his eyesight back. "Together again, huh?" he joked
"Who wouldn't miss it?" Luke said dryly
"How we doin'?"
"Same as always."
"That bad, huh?" Han remarked as they were brought to the throne room, "Where're Leia and Malia?"
"We're here." Leia called from where she and Malia were chained to Jabba, who barked some orders in Huttese.
"Oh, dear." Threepio sighed, "His High Exaltedness, the great Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately."
"Good, I hate long waits." Han grunted. His friends could only smirk at this. Same old Han!
"You will therefore be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the Pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlaac." Threepio continued
"So the legends are true." Malia muttered to herself
"Doesn't sound so bad." Han said to no one in particular
"In his belly, you find a new definition of pain and suffering... as you are slowly digested over a thousand years." Threepio finished sadly
Chewbacca gave a roar of defiance. It would take more than the threat of being eaten alive to crush his iron will.
"On second thought, let's pass on that, huh?" Han said lamely.
"You should've bargained, Jabba." Luke told the Hutt grimly, who ordered his guards to take the prisoners away. "That's the last mistake you'll ever make." Luke said as he was led away.
Jabba just laughed, blissfully unware that he had grossly underestimated the young Jedi.
~8~
Jabba's sail barge glided over the Dune Sea, flanked by two skiffs. A party mood was prevalent aboard the barge, with the Max Rebo Band playing a festive tune and Jabba's entourage being served drinks by Artoo as they looked forward to the forthcoming execution. Aboard the first skiff were several guards on escort duty, while the second skiff was carrying the prisoners. "I think my eyes are getting better." Han said, "Instead of a big dark blue, I see a big light blur."
"There's nothing to see." Luke told him dryly, "Malia and I used to live here, ya know."
"You're gonna die here, ya know. Convenient." Han replied
"Just stick close to Chewie and Lando." Luke told him, "I've taken care of everything."
"Oh, great." Han said ironically, not having much confidence in their survival.
~8~
Aboard the sail barge, Malia was looking out of the viewport at the prisoners' skiff when Jabba suddenly pulled her back hard by her chain. "Soon you will learn to appreciate me." Jabba smirked, licking his revolting lips.
"Don't count on it, Slimeball." Malia retorted defiantly.
Threepio meanwhile was walking along when he suddenly bumped into an Astromech droid who was serving drinks. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry." he began, then he recognised the droid. "Artoo! What are you doing here?"
Artoo beeped a witty retort.
"Well, I can see you're serving drinks, but this place is dangerous." Threepio replied, "They're going to execute Master Luke, and, if we're not careful, us too."
Artoo assured his counterpart that everything was going to be alright.
"Hmph! I wish I had your confidence." Threepio retorted.
~8~
The procession soon reached the Pit of Carkoon and the prisoners' skiff took up position. A gangplank was extended from the side and Luke was brought over to it. He looked down into the pit to see a mucus-covered beak and several tenticles reaching out of the pit. This was the legendary Sarlaac. Lando looked into the pit too and grimaced at the revolting creature within. Then, Threepio's voice sounded from a loudspeaker aboard the sail barge; "Victims of the almighty Sarlaac, his excellency hopes that you will die honourably. But should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas."
"Threepio, you tell that piece of slimy, worm-ridden... filth... he'll get no such pleasure from us!" Han shouted defiantly. "Right?" he asked Chewbacca, who growled in agreement.
"Jabba, this your last chance." Luke shouted, "Free us or die."
Jabba's entourage all laughed, none of them noticed Artoo ditch his serving tray and make his way up to the barge's top deck. "Move him into position." Jabba ordered
A Weequay skiff guard prodded Luke in the back with it's staff, forcing him to walk onto the plank. Standing on the edge of the plank, Luke looked up to see that Artoo was in position, then he nodded to Lando, who nodded back. Everything was ready. Luke then tipped the nod to Artoo, who opened a panel on his dome to reveal a cylindrical object inside.
Leia and Malia watched anxiously, both hoping that Luke's plan would work. "Put him in." Jabba ordered
The Weequay guard pushed Luke off the plank, but the Jedi simply grabbed the edge of the plank and performed an acrobatic leap just as Artoo launched the cylindrical object towards him. Luke landed behind the guards on the skiff, caught the cylindrical device and pressed a button on it, igniting a green lightsabre blade and he swung it at the guards, cutting them down with ease and sending one of them tumbling off the skiff and into the waiting jaws of the Sarlaac. Lando meanwhile removed his helmet and began wrestling with the skiff's pilot.
Jabba was livid and ordered his men on the barge to intervene. Malia and Leia could only smirk to themselves, both proud of Luke. Luke meanwhile struck the last of the skiff's guards in the shoulder with his new lightsabre and the guard tumbled off to his doom inside the Sarlaac. With the guards safely taken care off, Luke turned to his friends. "Easy, Chewie." he said, using his lightsabre to remove Chewbacca's bonds.
One of Jabba's men on the sail barge raced to the top deck and set up a blaster turret to take pot-shots at the skiff. One blast landed uncomfortably close to where Lando was struggling with the skiff pilot. Both men lost their balance and went tumbling over the edge. Lando managed to save himself by grabbing onto a stray piece of cable. "Help!" he yelled
Luke turned round to see Boba Fett flying towards him and landing on the skiff. Luke promptly swung round with his lightsabre and cut Fett's carbine rifle in half. Suddenly, another blast from the sail barge struck the skiff, sending Han and Chewbacca tumbling to the floor. "Chewie, you're hit? Where is it?" Han fussed, realising that the blast had grazed Chewbacca's leg.
Fett meanwhile fired a grabble wire at Luke which wrapped itself around the Jedi. Fortunately for Luke, another blast from the sail barge hit the skiff, causing Fett to lose his balance and fall over, allowing Luke to use his lightsabre to free himself. "Han! Chewie!" Lando yelled from where he was hanging beneath the skiff.
"Lando!" Han exclaimed, jumping to his feet ready to help Lando.
A laser blast whizzed past Luke's shoulder and he turned round to see the guards on the other skiff firing at him. Luke promptly ran across his skiff and used the Force to leap over to the other one, where he then got to work dispatching the guards with his lightsabre. Boba Fett recovered and got to his feet, then he started taking pot shots at Luke with a blaster built into his wrist gauntlets. Chewbacca barked a warning to Han, who had just grabbed a discarded pike to help Lando.
"Boba Fett?" Han questioned, "Boba Fett? Where?" He spun round and accidentally struck Fett's jetpack with his pike, activating it and sending the bounty hunter flying out of control. Fett slammed into the side of the sail barge with such force that he was knocked unconscious and landed in a sand dune, soundly out for the count for the time being.
~8~
Jabba was furious at how badly things were going. In his anger, he failed to notice Leia smash the controls beside his throne, causing the window shutters to close. Then Leia tipped the nod to Malia and both women looped their chains around Jabba's neck. "Let's how you like being choked." Malia growled, and she and Leia began pulling on their chains as hard as they could, causing the chains to dig into Jabba's neck.
Jabba tried to get the chains off him, but the women were too strong and Jabba gagged and choked as the chains garrotted the life out of him. Finally, Jabba drew his last breath and died, thus ending his reign of terror.
~8~
Luke continued to fight his way across the guards' skiff, dispatching them with ease. One of them swung an axe at Luke's legs, but he jumped out of the way and promptly slashed the guard with his lightsabre.
Aboard the other skiff, Han reached his pike down towards Lando. "Lando, grab it." he urged
"Lower it!" Lando yelled
"I'm trying!" Han ground out. Just then, more laser blasts rocked the skiff, causing Han to lose his balance. "Grab me, Chewie. I'm slipping!" he called, and Chewbacca grabbed Han's legs to stop him from falling over the side.
Luke meanwhile saw where the laser blasts were coming from and decided to deal with it, so he performed a Force jump and landed on the side hull of the sail barge. A hatch next to him opened and a Weequay guard leaned out with a blaster pistol, ready to shoot him, but Luke just grabbed him and threw him overboard then he began climbing up the side of the hull.
"Grab it. Almost." Han called to Lando as he extended the pike down to him, "You almost got it."
Another laser blast rocked the skiff, but Luke had reached the barge's top deck by now and he quickly dispatched the guard taking pot-shots at the skiff. Another guard fired at Luke, but the Jedi skilfully used his lightsabre to deflect the shots back at the guard, winging them and forcing them to retreat, while Luke used his lightsabre to dispatch a Gamorrean guard.
~8~
"Gently now." Han muttered as he reached towards Lando, "Easy, easy. Hold me, Chewie."
Suddenly, the Sarlacc extended a tentacle which wrapped round Lando's leg. "Eeyaah!" he screamed as the Sarlaac began to pull him towards it.
Han had seen this. "Chewie! Chewie, give me the gun!" he called, and Chewbacca passed him a blaster pistol which one of the guards had dropped.
~8~
A hatch on the top deck of the sail barge burst open and some Weequay guards stormed out, only to be swiftly cut down by Luke's lightsabre.
~8~
Han aimed the blaster at the Sarlaac's tentacle. "Don't move, Lando." he warned
"No, wait! I thought you were blind!" Lando protested
"It's alright, I can see a lot better." Han assured him, "Don't move."
"A little higher! Just a little higher!" Lando squirmed
Han fired and scored a direct hit on the tentacle, which let Lando go and slinked back inside the pit. Lando promptly scrambled up the sand bank and grabbed hold of Han's pike. "Chewie, pull us up!" Han called, and Chewbacca was soon able to pull both men safely back up onto the skiff.
~8~
Artoo trundled over to Malia and Leia and used his arc welder to sever the women's chains. "Thanks, Artoo." Malia said gratefully, slipping the chains from around her neck.
"Come one, we've gotta get out of here!" Leia said, leading the way towards the stairs to the top deck.
On the way, they saw Jabba's pet Crumb gnawing at one of Threepio's visual receptors. "Not my eyes!" the droid wailed, "Artoo, Mistress, help!"
Malia took a charging run and gave the Crumb a good kick, sending it flying to the ceiling. "Stupid thing." she growled, having had to put up with the obnoxious creature giggling down her ear and playing with her hair during her thankfully short time as Jabba's slave.
~8~
Luke continued to battle guards on the barge's top deck. Suddenly, one of the guards fired a shot which struck Luke's mechanical hand, causing him to yell out and drop his lightsabre. The guard then prepared to fire the kill shot, but was promptly impaled through the chest by a pike and fell forward to reveal Malia standing there. "Thanks, 'Lia." Luke acknowledged, and used the Force to retrieve his lightsabre. "Get the gun." Luke called to Leia, "Point it at the deck."
Leia nodded and raced over to the barge's forward cannon, which she aimed at the deck as per Luke's instruction. Threepio and Artoo meanwhile were making their way towards the edge of the deck. "Artoo, where are we going?" Threepio moaned, "I couldn't possibly..." He never got to finish his sentence as Artoo promptly pushed him off the edge and rolled off after him, both droids landing in the sand below.
Having finished dispatching the guards, Luke and Malia joined Leia by the deck guns. "Come on!" Luke urged, grabbing a rope from one of the sails. Both women joined him and they got ready to make a swinging jump, just as they had on the first Death Star four years ago. Luke kicked the cannon's trigger and it fired at the deck, starting a chain reaction, then the three Humans swung across to the skiff where Lando, Han and Chewbacca were waiting. "Let's go. And don't forget the droids." Luke said to Lando, who had taken over the controls.
"We're on our way." Lando replied, and piloted the skiff over to where Threepio's feet and Artoo's periscope were poking out of the sand. A pair of magnetic grabs lowered from the skiff's underside and pulled the two droids up, then the skiff sped away to safety just before the sail barge exploded in a spectacular fireball, thus ending Jabba the Hutt's criminal empire once and for all.
~8~
The Millennium Falcon, an X-wing fighter and an A/SF-01 B-wing fighter flew away from Tatooine and went their separate ways, with the Falcon and the B-wing going one way while the X-wing went another way. Luke was piloting the X-wing. "Meet you back at the fleet." he said into his radio
"Hurry. The Alliance should be assembled by now." Leia's voice said
"I will." Luke reassured her
"Hey, Luke, thanks." Han's voice said, "Thanks for comin' after me. Now I owe YOU one!"
Luke gave a soft chuckle at this. "And don't you forget it, Han." Malia's voice said, "Good luck, Luke. See ya later!"
"You too, 'Lia." Luke acknowledged
Artoo beeped, inquiring about their destination.
"That's right, Artoo, we're going to the Dagobah system." Luke told him, putting on a black glove to conceal the damage to his mechanical hand caused by the shot from earlier. "I have a promise to keep... to an old friend." And so Luke's X-wing made the jump to lightspeed, destination: Dagobah.
Author's notes: And so we have the battle of the Sarlaac pit. When I was planning this story, I struggled to think of how to integrate Malia into the Jabba sequences. As you can see, I ultimately settled on having her become a slave, but at least I gave her a couple of badass things to do, namely strangling Jabba with Leia, kicking Salacious Crumb and impaling a guard with a pike. Note that I had Malia piloting a B-wing at the end of this chapter. I thought I'd give the criminally underused B-wings a bit more screen time by having Malia pilot one. In fact, we'll be seeing a lot more of this in later chapters. Also note that I changed Boba Fett's fate slightly in that he doesn't get eaten by the Sarlaac here. Fett was really done dirty in ROTJ, but at least The Mandalorian made up for it. So, hope you like this chapter and hope to see ya next time!