Disclaimer: Though I am a fan of Star Wars I am not as well versed as many, so there very probably will be some discrepancies with my story. Please note that this entire story is a divergence from canon, so if you have a problem with some of my mistakes just think of it that way. Thank you!
15
en·deav·or
try hard to do or achieve something.
She was given a heavy gold platter and was tugged into some sort of throne room, it was dim and what light there was shone through slatted windows. She could see the dust flying through the air and she bit back a cough as she was laden with heavy goblets.
"Go serve and keep your mouth shut if you want to keep your tongue." The guard said and detached the chain leash from her cuffed wrists and shoved her to the wolves.
The room was full of people milling around and chatting in different languages. They ignored Jyn, taking their drinks and downing them before slamming them back onto the platter. Jyn barely managed to keep the platter steady as she moved through the throngs of people, making notes of all of the doors and windows. She was dismayed to realize that they were still somewhere underground and escape would not be easy. Besides, she'd promised Leia that she would help her get free.
She was just wondering where the other woman was when the room fell silent as two large doors slid open and a large platform was rolled in. On the platform was one of the ugliest aliens that Jyn had ever seen. It was mounds of shapeless flesh and two snake-like eyeballs. She was so busy trying to process what he was that she almost didn't see the woman lying on the pillows against him.
She bit back a gasp of shock as she realized that it was the woman she'd just seen less than an hour ago-dressed in an uncomfortable looking metal outfit that showed more than it covered. A thick metal collar was snapped around her neck and the chain was held by what Jyn know realized was the alien's arm.
A gold droid stiffly walked in the room after the platform and stood behind him as the alien began speaking in a garbled language that Jyn barely recognized. The droid slowly translated the words that the alien was saying but Jyn was barely listening as a wookie and a man were dragged into the room followed by a younger man who looked a little worse for wear.
"Han!" the younger one gasped.
"Luke!" the other replied, they looked extremely happy to see one another and exchanged a couple of lighthearted comments that Jyn thought were hardly appropriate for the situation but it made her feel better all the same.
They asked about Leia and she piped up from her place on the pillows; "Here." But was instantly tugged back into silence.
The room rumbled and suddenly they were flying. Jyn didn't know how big the ship that they were on was-she was still trying to get used to being above ground again. She leaned against a wall with her empty platter for a moment and realized her mistake a moment later.
"Get back to work." Her guard shoved her roughly forwards and she landed on the hard metal floor with a thump before scrambling back to her feet.
"Lord Hutt wishes for a drink." He said before plunking a large gold and glass goblet on her tray full of some sort of brown liquid. The smell made Jyn nauseous but she inched her way over to the platform.
She looked down at her tray, only allowing herself to look up to look at Leia who was staring intensly at a bounty hunter. Once she made it to the alien's side and held the tray up for him she finally made contact with Leia who blinked at her with shock before her face became impassive again.
The goblet was snatched from her tray and she wanted nothing more than to scurry away from him but forced herself to remain by his side as he drank the murky liquid.
Jyn was still trying to figure out just how they were going to get out of this situation and hoping that Leia would hold up her end of the bargain if they did.
Jabba began speaking again and the droid hurried to translate: "Oh, dear. His High Exaltedness, the great Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately."
Jyn listened to the man-Han-quip a snarky response about hating long waits but the droid continued:
"You will therefore be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc. In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years."
Yikes. Jyn thought as the two men exchanged a remark and the younger man turned to Jabba with stormy blue eyes.
"You should have bargained, Jabba. That's the last mistake you'll ever make." The young man said and the alien rasped a laugh that sounded like air escaping a balloon. The court around them tittered as well as the men were dragged away along with the wookie.
The empty goblet was thrown Jyn's way and she scrambled to catch it before it shattered on the floor and hurried to refill it. Something pinched her bottom as she passed and she yelped, her cheeks burning as laughter ensued.
"That ass looks much better in your normal clothes." Linux stood back, perusing her body with his eyes as he rubbed his chin.
Jyn ignored him and refilled Jabba's goblet and began making her way back towards the pedestal but a foot came out and tripped her, spilling the goblets contents down the front of her dress.
Jyn gritted her teeth as Linux came forwards, his breath smelling of alcohol. "Just wait until after the execution lovely. Then you are all mine."
Jyn moved closer, pressing a hand to his chest and smiling cheerfully, showing all of her teeth. "I will kill you Linux. Just you wait."
She then clumsily refilled the goblet and skirted around his group, back to the pedestal. Leia was gazing off out of the window and Jyn followed her line of sight to the skiff that flew near the ship with the prisoners. She could tell Leia was close with those men and wished she could tell the other woman that things would be okay. But just as she thought those words the chain around Leia's neck was pulled taut, cutting off her air.
Jabba said something in his language before releasing her and snatching the goblet off of Jyn's platter and greedily drinking from it.
The ship pulled to a stop. They had made it to the pit. The platform was moved to the edge of the ship so that Jabba could have a front seat view and Jyn watched as the skiff with the prisoners moved to the center of the pit which was lined with what looked like teeth.
The gold droid was again translating the alien's words but Jyn was hardly listening. In her mind the window of escape was beginning to shut and the panic that they might not make it out alive was beginning to dawn on her. Where was Cassian?
"Free us or die." The young man said again, arrogantly. Jyn was impressed with his bravado but the situation was impossible and Jabba's raspy laughter confirmed that for her. Luke is pushed to the edge of the plank and he turns, giving a saucy salute to the watching crowd before jumping.
Jyn's heart plummets for a moment before she sees him flipping through the air like some kind of monkey. Suddenly something shiny is flying through the air which Luke deftly catches and is suddenly fighting with the guards on board.
Jyn's brain was still trying to process it as the ship erupts into chaos and Jabba begins barking orders at his guards. Jyn watched as the guards manned guns and began shooting at the skiff.
The sound of choking brought Jyn's attention back to the ship and she turned to see Leia choking Jabba with the very chain that he had put around her neck. The raspy gurgle as the alien fought back against her made Jyn's stomach flop. But Leia, who was too focused on killing her captor, didn't notice the man who was running towards her.
Jyn stepped behind him and raised the heavy gold platter and slammed it into his skull, shuddering at the meaty sound that it made upon contact.
She turned to Leia who was on her knees gasping from the exertion of choking the massive crime lord.
"Are you alright?" Jyn asked, dropping to her knees in front of the other woman and began feeling for a catch in the collar but finding none.
"I will be more fine once I get this damned thing off." Leia said as she tugged against the chains in vain.
The sound of pounding feet alerted Jyn to the fact that they were no longer alone. She turned brandishing the tray and swinging it at them in warning.
"Leia I'm going to need a gun." She said over her shoulder.
"All this guy has is a knife."
The men in front of them were chuckling as they inched closer but then one of them yelped and turned around. A little blue droid zipped into the room.
"Artoo!" Leia said, relief flooding her voice.
The droid zipped towards Leia, followed by the remaining man. Jyn swung the platter at him, hitting him in the shoulder.
He grabbed her with a grin and Jyn fought against him, wishing she had full range of movement but the shackles around her wrists and ankles were making it hard to fight back. She elbowed him in the stomach and rolled away from him. He loomed over her with an expression that sent shudders down his spine.
But that only lasted for a moment because his face slackened and he dropped to the ground in front of her, a knife in his back and a newly freed Leia standing there with a grim expression.
"Artoo, get her chains too."
The droid made short work of freeing her arms and legs and she stretched her arms.
"Come on, let's get out of here and fast." Leia said and they hurried away from the room, Jyn stopping to grab the blaster that was on one of the men.
They hurried down the hall, Jyn moving first and firing at anyone that came near them.
"Not my eyes! Artoo, help! Quickly, Artoo. Oh! Ohhh! You beast!" The voice belonged to the droid who had been translating for Jabba as a reptilian alien plucked at the droid.
Artoo zapped the alien, sending him flying with a howl. Leia and Jyn push the gold droid to his feet.
"How are we ever going to get off of this ship?" Jyn asked.
"Luke will have a plan." Leia said confidently before adding "I hope."
"You hope? I need a little more than hope." Jyn complained as they hurried towards the deck of the ship.
"Oh come on now, didn't you know that rebellions were built on hope?" The woman said with a mysterious grin before turning and heading up the stairs that led up to the deck.
Something expanded in Jyn's chest, was it the bravery that she'd felt before the battle on Scarif? She didn't know but hoped that this time she lived to find out.
Hello! So hopefully my hiatus for this story is now over, school got all crazy (I'm a university student and I just took five classes while working and let me tell you right now that that was a terrible decision). This story is coming to a close very soon so I will hopefully be able to finish it in the next couple of weeks. So for those of you who were wondering if this story will be finished I am doing by very best to make that happen-I hate leaving things unfinished.
Anyways, I actually pulled lines directly from the Return of the Jedi script for this chapter since I wanted to make sure that I got many of the words and actions together correctly before tweaking them to fit Jyn (and yes eventually Cassian) into the situation. I know it's a bit sacrilegious to diverge from canon but lets be real this entire Fic is a divergence from canon...
ANYWAYS. Thats all of the babbling that I will do for this chapter. Updates coming soon! Please read and review!
-LittleMoonLover-