Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
the mysterious Mr.E: I have other plans for Boba Fett.
TheWriter946: I don't have plans to.
Chapter 62- Great Pit of Carkoon
(June 23, 2017)
Luke sighs a bit as he stares out over the endless sands of Tatooine as the skiff makes it way towards the Great Pit of Carkoon.
After his attempt to barter with Jabba ended badly, and he killed Jabba's rancor, Jabba had ordered that he, Han, and Chewie be fed to the Sarlacc. However, Luke had used a hidden device on his wrist to broadcast a distress signal to the Granite Mountain. Hopefully, reinforcements are on their way.
Luke was a little disappointed that both he and Leia's attempts to get Han out of Jabba's palace had failed, although Leia had managed to remove him from the carbonite. Now, Leia was Jabba's prisoner, dressed in a metal bikini to satisfy Jabba, and the rest of them were to be killed. Thankfully, however, Lando had not yet been discovered, and was still undercover as one of Jabba's guards.
Beside Luke, Han says, "Maybe my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big, dark blur, I see a big light blur."
"There's nothing to see. I used to live here, you know," Luke says.
"You're gonna die here, you know. Convenient," Han says a bit sarcastically.
"Just stick close to Chewie and Lando. I've taken care of everything," Luke says.
"Oh, great," Han says with even mpre sarcasm.
"Don't worry. We're not alone. These guys won't know what hit them," Luke says.
Only seconds later, up ahead, the Great Pit of Carkoon comes into view. Jabba's sail barge stops a short distance away. Several other skiffs circle around the pit as the skiff carrying Luke, Han, and Chewie pulls up over the pit.
Luke looks over the edge of the skiff as a plank slides out over the side. Below him, he sees the Sarlacc lying at the bottom of the pit, squealing as it opens its gaping mouth.
On board Jabba's sail barge, 3PO walks up to one of the large windows, having received his message from Jabba. Wishing he did not have to do this, he declares loudly, "Victims of the almighty Sarlacc, His Excellency hopes that you will die honorably. But, should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas."
Luke scans the horizon and the endless sands. Still, there's no signs of reinforcements. While Luke is confident his new plan will work without reinforcements, reinforcements would definitely make it easier.
Han, however, is concerned with giving Jabba a final piece of his mind. "3PO, you tell that slimy bit of worm ridden filth he'll get no such pleasure from us," Han says, before saying to Chewie, "Right?"
Looking towards the sail barge, Luke says loud enough for Jabba to hear, "Jabba, this is your last chance. Free us or die."
Jabba's courtiers laugh at the threat that, to them, seems completely ridiculous. Jabba laughs himself, and in Huttese, orders, "Put him in!"
One of the guards on the skiff pushes Luke onto the plank extending over the side. Luke walks out to the end of the plank, looking over it and down at the Sarlacc. He then glances to the side, looking over at Lando and nodding slightly. Lando nods in return.
Right then, a noise can suddenly be heard over the noises being made by the Sarlacc and the soft noises of the skiffs and sail barges. Luke smiles as he hears it. Behind him, Han can hear it too, and soon recognizes it. "Wait, is that…" he says.
Then, the sound suddenly gets louder. Everyone looks off to the west, and they immediately see, appearing from behind a large sand dune, four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, heading straight for them.
Luke smiles, then leaps off the plank, turning around and catching the end of it as he goes. Seeing this, R2 opens a hole in his head and launches Luke's new lightsaber. Luke flips up onto the skiff, then reaches up and uses the Force to call the lightsaber to him. As soon as it lands in his hand, Luke ignites it and sets about attacking the guards on the skiff, assisted by Lando.
As Jabba's men try to get into a position to fight back, the four Blackhawks speed in. One of the Blackhawks, equipped with Hellfire missiles, fires two missiles at one of the skiffs. The 20 pound high explosive warheads detonate, ripping apart the skiff.
As another Blackhawk flies towards the sail barge, the pilot sees one of Jabba's guards mounting a large laser gun on the railing and firing a blast at the skiff Luke is on, knocking Lando off of it.
"Take out that gun!" the pilot calls out, swinging the Blackhawk around. In the doorway, one of the crew, manning an M240 machine gun, pulls the trigger. The machine gun springs to life, sending hundreds of bullets streaking out towards the top of the sail barge. The machine gun rounds tear apart the gunner and his gun. The gunner swivels the machine gun, killing several more guards.
As the Blackhawk's machine gunner is firing on guards on the sail barge, Boba Fett comes out on deck. Looking towards Luke's skiff, the bounty hunter activates his jetpack, flying over to the skiff. He lands on the skiff, drawing Luke's attention. He starts to level his blaster at Luke, but Luke quickly cuts it in two.
Shrapnel flies past them as the first Blackhawk uses its last two Hellfires to destroy a skiff approaching Luke's skiff. The shrapnel slightly wounds Chewie and makes everyone else duck. Taking advantage of the distraction, Boba fires a grappling cable from his vambrace which wraps around Luke.
Luke shifts his hands a bit and manages to get his lightsaber in a better spot, enabling him to cut himself free. At that moment, a laser bolt from a Delta Force commando in one of the Blackhawks hits behind Boba, knocking him to the ground and temporarily dazing him.
Laser bolts fly past Luke's head. Turning around, Luke sees the last remaining skiff moving in, the guards on it firing at him. Then, one of the Blackhawks moves in, and in the doorway, a gunner, manning his M134 minigun, pulls the trigger. 30 caliber bullets fire out at 100 rounds per second with the sound a buzzsaw. The gunner swivels the gun back and forth, gunning down every individual on the skiff.
Another Blackhawk flies right over Luke's skiff, dropping a rope to him. Luke leaps up and grabs hold of the rope. As the Blackhawk starts flying towards the sail barge, Boba regains his feet. Seeing Luke hanging from the rope, he starts to raise one of his wrists, ready to fire a blaster mounted to his vambrace. However, he doesn't see the Blackhawk swinging around behind him, with Calvin sitting in the doorway. Calvin raises his SR25 rifle and fires at Boba. The bullet hits his jetpack, activating it and sending Boba flying across the pit and into the side of the sail barge. Boba then falls to the sands below and tumbles into the mouth of the Sarlacc.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawk that had been gunning down the guards on the top deck of the sail barge moves in closer, and Kelly, along with twelve Sayeret Matkal commandos, leap out of the door and onto the top of the sail barge. Another Blackhawk flies in, depositing twelve Deltas and Calvin.
The two Blackhawks move a short distance away, circling the sail barge, their gunners ready to lend support to the commandos. At the same time, another Blackhawk moves in close to the skiff, where Han and Chewie are still trying to pull Lando back aboard. One of the Deltas throws a rope to Lando, who quickly grabs it. The Delta and the machine gunner in the doorway pull on the rope and haul Lando aboard. The Blackhawk then moves over a few feet so that they can pull Han and Chewie aboard the helicopter.
Kelly an Calvin ignites their lightsabers, and the twenty four commandos move smoothly across the deck towards the doorways down into the sail barge. As they do, the last Blackhawk flies overhead, and Luke leaps down from it, landing next to Kelly.
"Hey, honey. Seems like you got in a bit of trouble," Kelly says with a smile.
Luke smiles back at her and replies, "A little bit." He then leans in and gives her a quick kiss.
The two hear the sounds of lightsabers cutting through flesh, and look over to see Calvin slashing his way through several guards. After he cuts down the last of them, he looks over at them and says, "Kiss later, lovebirds. We're in the middle of a battle," he says before continuing his attack. The two smile and follow him.
As they do, four Sayeret Matkal commandos break down one of the doors leading down into the sail barge and head through it. They make their way slowly down a flight of stairs. The lead commando sees a Gamorrean guard coming up the stairs and immediately kills him with a three round burst to the head.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, they turn a corner and enter the main room where Jabba is. Given that Luke is now a citizen of the Terran Alliance and an honorary member of the Terran Jedi, the Joint Command had considered Jabba trying to kill him as reason enough to kill Jabba.
As the four Israelis enter the room, they immediately see Jabba. However, they immediately realize that he's already dead. They then see Leia kneeling in front of R2, right as the droid uses one of his attachments to break the chain Jabba had on Leia.
"Princess," one of the Israelis calls. She looks up, and relief floods her face.
"Thank goodness you're here," she says.
"Let's get you out of here," the lead commando says.
The four Israelis lead Leia and R2 up towards the top. As they go, the leader calls out over the radio, "This is Captain Eliyahu. We have the princess and the droids in custody. Moving up to the top deck now."
Hearing that transmission, Calvin gets on the radio and calls out, "Blackhawks, move in for extraction."
Two of the Blackhawks move in to hover over the top deck, lowering ropes through holes in the cover overhead that have blown out with the helicopters' mounted miniguns to allow the commandos to begin climbing. As they do, a third Blackhawk moves in towards the side of the sail barge, the men inside laying a plank between the door and the sail barge. The fourth Blackhawk circles the sail barge, guns at the ready in case any more guards try to interfere.
Right at that moment, the four Israelis emerge onto the deck with Leia and the two droids. The four Israelis take the droids onto the Blackhawk hovering off the side of the sail barge, and that Blackhawk quickly moves away. Meanwhile, Luke picks up Leia bridal style and uses the Force to leap up into one of the Blackhawks, the same one holding Lando, Han, and Chewie. Kelly leaps up after him as Calvin climbs up one of the ropes into the other Blackhawk. Within a minute, all of the rescue forces and the people they came to rescue are all aboard the four helicopters.
In the cockpit of the lead Blackhawk, the pilot calls out on the radio, "This is Nomad 1-1. Rescue complete. We're pulling out. Dagger 1, you are cleared hot."
The four helicopters pull away from the sail barge. As they do, Leia looks back at it and asks, "We're just going to leave it there?"
"Nope," Kelly says with a smile.
Leia feels confused. Then, she hears a familiar shriek. She looks out of the door of the Blackhawk as two SA-10s dive in and loose four AGM-65 Mavericks at the sail barge. The missiles easily punch through the hull of the sail barge before exploding, tearing the sail barge apart.
"I should've figured," Leia says with a smile.
As the helicopters set a course for where the Millenium Falcon and Luke's X-Wing are parked, Han looks around his helicopter. "I think my sight's fully back," he says. He then looks at Luke and says, "You look good, kid."
"Thanks, Han," Luke says.
Han then looks at Kelly. "Hey, Kelly. Been a long time," Han says.
"It's really good to have you back, Han," she says with a smile.
Han cracks a bit of a grin. Then, he notices something. Pointing to her hand, he says, "What are those rings? I haven't seen you wearing them before."
Kelly smiles as she holds her hand out. "These are my engagement ring and my wedding ring," she says, leaning up against Luke as she says this.
Han's eyes widen. "Wait. You two got married?" he asks.
Luke smiles. "Yeah, we did, Han. I'll have to tell you later everything that happened on Bespin after you got frozen, but after we were rescued from Bespin, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Kelly, so I asked her to marry me. Then, a few weeks later, after we got to Earth, we got married. We've been married for over a year now," he explains.
Han is quiet for a moment before he says, "Well, it looks like I missed a lot." He looks at the two of them for a moment before he says, "Well, Kelly, you definitely seem to be better than most of us at keeping Luke out of trouble. And you two really do make a good match. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Han," Luke says, taking Kelly's hand in his as he says this.
The four Blackhawks don't take too long to reach the spot where the Millenium Falcon and Luke's X-Wing are waiting. After depositing their passengers, the four helicopters head back to the Granite Mountain, which has now descended back into Tatooine's atmosphere to allow the helicopters to return.
As Luke quickly dresses in his flight suit, Kelly walks over to him. "You're not coming with us, are you?" she asks.
"No. You know I have someone I need to go see," he says. Kelly nods in response. She and her father are the only two that Luke has shared the truth about him training under Yoda on Dagobah.
"Well, don't take too long. The Rebellion is assembled. It's not going to be long before they want to mount their attack," Kelly says.
"Don't worry. I won't be long," Luke says. He smiles, then exchanges a kiss with her.
Kelly smiles at him. "Good luck. See you soon," she says. She then turns and walks over to the Falcon as Luke climbs into his X-Wing. The two ships quickly take off, climbing out of Tatooine's atmosphere.
As the Falcon prepares to make it's jump to hyperspace, Kelly can't stop thinking about the current situation. "I hope you make it back soon, honey. Because we're going to need everything we've got for the battle ahead," she says under her breath.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked that chapter.
Next chapter should be up soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!