Chapter 90 - Saving Chewbacca's Son
"Approaching Mount Arayakyak in 30 seconds." The human pilot called out on the speaker.
Chewbacca pulled up his blowcaster and growled a warcry. Several of the rebellion soldiers yelled nonsensically in reply.
When Bail had arranged to go and liberate Kashyyyk, he let Chewbacca advise them on which targets to attack first. It was a very emotional choice. Two targets came to his mind instantly. One, likely held his Love, and the other his only child. It pained him to make this decision, but in the end he knew what choice his Love would make. She'd claw his eyes out if he didn't go after Lumpawaroo first.
According to Bail's spies, sometime after he'd been separated from them, All children in his clan were sent to Mount Arayakyak. His planet was being stripped of its natural resources and mines were built all over his childhood home. The children, his child, were preferred slaves because of their combined wookiee durability and small hands. On Mimban, he'd heard of many young wookiees killed in explosions because they were used to set the charges for a mine's expansion. Chewbacca closed his eyes. He had only to imagine what his own slavery had been. To imagine his Lumpy going through any of that, makes him angry. And no matter how colorful Han's descriptions of his irritation after losing a game of Dejarik are, the pilot has never seen him in a true fury.
"Drop in five, four…" The pilot began calling. Some of the men around him reached up to do another quick check of their gear. "Three, Two, One." Suddenly the floor to their compartment opened up and his team was dropped from the shuttle onto the battlefield.
Their parachutes softened their fall. Chewbacca looked around to see the rest of his team land. Above, fighters flew east after their own targets. But his team was after a different facility. Lakii, their Sargent, waved his arms to signal them to approach the Dubacrete Behemoth on their Six.
"Master, Master!" Anakin half whispered, half shouted. After finally becoming so tired he couldn't stay awake any longer, his dreams were very unsettling. Then to make it worse, he awoke and was so convinced he was hearing things, he started to think he saw the old Grandmaster in reflections around the room, too.
Obi-Wan greeted him in his night robe, eyes still crusted with sleep. "Anakin, what is it?"
Anakin would've scolded himself for not looking at the time earlier, but he didn't care. He sighed. "Master, I need help. I can't meditate. I can't sleep. And in between it all, I think I'm hearing things."
"Um hmm." Obi-Wan's eyes trailed off to the empty space behind him and he nodded. "Come inside."
After ushering him inside, the older man rubbed his chin, and the beard that had returned after they joined the rebellion. "Hmm. I see. It doesn't look good."
Anakin glared at him contemplatively. Had he more energy he would've asked what the man expected him to look like after not sleeping a whole three days. Only before he did, he sensed something again. The force was doing things, and he could almost feel Yoda's presence seeping through from somewhere. "Aaah, no. Not again." He reached up and clenched his ears, because after the feeling, always came the voice.
Only this time Obi-Wan turned and snapped, "Don't do that! Can't you see you're scaring him?"
As if it were responding to his Master's scolding, the feeling vanished instantly. Anakin looked up, eyes wide.
"Anakin, do you remember Yoda's lessons on The Whills. The ones he gave after we rejoined again after the purge."
Anakin squinted. "Those crazy ones about staying conscious after you die, Yeeaaahhh?" Suddenly Anakin was afraid his Master would verify the voices and it made him feel like he was slipping even more into insanity.
"No. I don't think he did. He was always that way with homework." Obi-Wan looked over at nothing and said to the someone who wasn't there. Then he looked back at Anakin. "Do you remember the first part of the exercises he taught us?"
Anakin glared skeptically at his Master.
"I promise, this will all become clearer after we do them." he gestured to his meditation corner, and Anakin followed him. If there's anything he probably did need at this point, meditation wouldn't be far from it. It wouldn't hurt to try anyways.
Chewbacca shot at another gunman and then he saw them. A group of young Wookiee slaves were being herded in front of an imperial commander, likely for his own protection. Chewy's face sneered in disgust. To enslave younglings is a despicable act… To endanger them to save yourself is on a whole other level entirely.
Men with this man's uniform were important prisoners to the rebellion. Chewbacca knew this. He knew the intelligence received from his interrogation would rival anyone else's, but in this moment, the commander's life was worth dirt. Chewbacca only saw the youngling scream as he pushed her with a shock lance. He let out a roar and charged at the Bantha Fodder.
The commander hit one of the young wookiees again and in response she growled in pain and reached up to swipe at Chewbacca. He, however, was a more experienced fighter than she, and he rolled the punch and grabbed the shock lance from the commander's hands. Pain shot through his limbs and he screamed as he gripped it tighter. In one move he broke the thing over his knee and threw it against a wall with a growl. The younglings pulled back in fear as Chewbacca leaned over the commander to growl his threats.
Behind him, Han came up in his rebellion issued helmet and uniform. "Don't worry kiddos. He's on your side. Hey, Chewy. Let's not give the Commandant a heart attack, okay."
Chewbacca growled in shyriiwook, "He can live, as soon as he tells me where my Lumpawaroo is."
Underneath him, the Commandant looked around in confusion, as if he didn't even understand the languages they were talking around him.
One of the younglings leaned forwards. "Lumpawaroo. He's in our group. He escaped when this whole thing began. Ran off into the woods with a few others."
"I know where he was going," Another youngling spoke up.
"Show me." At that news, Chewbacca let go of the terrified man and turned to run off with the younglings.
The commandant stood up quickly, hoping to get away, but Han came up and grabbed him first. "Nope, you're not getting away that easily." Chewbacca heard the sound of a zip tie being used on the scum's wrists as he was leaving.
"And exhale," Obi-Wan instructed. "Good, now open your eyes."
"Yaaaaah!" Anakin cracked his eyes open and was shocked to see the bluish figure of Yoda sitting as if in meditation with them. He jumped and pulled back, but Obi-Wan got in his way.
"No. It's alright. You can see him now. This is good news. It took me years to be able to see Qui-Gon. You've got there in just one night."
"Told you he was a natural, I did." Yoda replied.
"No, I believe it was I who told you both about his gifts first." Another bluish force ghost appeared. This one resembled Qui-Gon Jinn, of all people.
"Y-You're dead! Both of you. How are you here?" Anakin glared at the apparitions in front of him.
"They used the teachings of the whills to retain their consciousnesses after they died. It's what Yoda was teaching you all this time." Obi-Wan added to the insanity in front of him. Anakin turned to stare open mouth at him. "He learned from My Master, who learned it from a shaman."
"No, it was the Force Priestesses." Qui-Gon corrected him. "It was a pastime of mine to study the legendary Wellspring of Life and I guess they heard of me and found me worthy."
"Wait," Anakin interrupted. "You've been talking to ghosts for, how long now?"
"Only the past few years actually. It took me a while to achieve what you did naturally."
"Started to hear Qui-Gon at the end of the old war, I did. Thought it was nonsense at first, I did too," Yoda shared.
"I did tell you Yoda got the idea to form the mental-scape from Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan reminded him.
"I thought we both agreed to chock that up to swampweed," Anakin returned. Obi-Wan looked embarrassed, but Qui-Gon laughed. Yoda glared at them all.
Chewbacca followed the younglings through the forest. One pointed up a cliff and said, "Up there is a small cave, but you have to climb to reach it."
"Stay here." he instructed the younglings. They looked around worriedly, so he handed the oldest girl a radio from his belt. "You can trust the rebellion soldiers. They are my clan now. And when this battle is over, we will do what we can to take you all home."
With the smiles of several younglings filling his heart with glee, Chewbacca turned back to the cliff. Climbing a mountain is not an easy thing to do for a wookiee, but his Lumpawaroo was always a brave boy. Chewbacca reached a paw over the top rim of the cliff, and was nearly pushed off again by the arms that grabbed him into a gigantic hug.
"Dad!" Lumpawaroo yelled.
Chewbacca recovered and pulled himself the rest of the way up. "Son, my child. It fills me with joy to see you again."
"Father, we came up here when the fighting began." Lumpawaroo motioned around him to the eight other younglings crowded there. "If we can stay away until it finishes, they might assume we died in the fighting and count us dead. Then we can get away. Will we have your help?"
"My son, you will always have my help. But you do not need to count on being considered dead. I came with the rebellion." Chewbacca showed him a patch sewn onto his armor. "We are strong and will win this battle. Down below are more younglings who showed me how to find you. Come with us and I will make sure you all get home."
"Un-cal Chewy," one of the smallest ones uttered. Chewbacca looked down and was confused for a second.
"Yes little Yavaaroo. It's Uncle Chewbacca from my stories," Lumpawaroo said. Then he looked back at his father. "I made sure the younger ones didn't forget our clan's heritage."
Chewbacca nodded as he forced back his own tears. He remembered little Yavaaroo, a cub born only a short time before he was made to leave. He also remembered how his brother, the youngling's father, died in slavery. "Little one, I call you my kin." Chewbacca uttered the ancient vow. Technically it was his claiming the youngling as a clan-mate, though as his brother's cub Chewbacca had a responsibility towards Yavaaroo he would not forget. Then he turned to the rest of the younglings and he knew it would calm them all to hear it as well. "I see you all, and call you kin. Will you come with us to freedom?"
"Yeah," Yavaaroo yowled in reply. It was repeated by the others in the room. Lumpawaroo smiled and began to usher them towards the cliff again. Chewbacca swallowed a lump to watch his nephew climb over the edge, followed by the others. One of the small ones grabbed at Lumpawaroo's wrists. He threw the youngling over his back and was going to climb over himself, but Chewbacca stopped him.
"I'll take him." Chewbacca replied, and with a roll of his eyes, Lumpawaroo allowed his father to take the heavy youngster from his shoulders.
"So," Anakin summarized. "You are all here after death, to do what. What was worth interrupting my sleep for three whole days?"
The ghosts looked at eachother guiltily. "To guide you, we are here," Yoda responded. "To disturb your sleep, I did not intend. That you would realize our presence sooner, I had hoped."
"Umm hmm." Anakin tapped his chin. "So am I to receive this council before every decision I make. Cause, you know, they still think I'm the grandmaster."
"You are the grandmaster, Anakin. We will not be interfering with your leadership. Just offering our advice from time to time," Qui-Gon said.
"Still, I've been incharge for three days. What decision could I possibly have made in that time that you needed to talk to me so desperately for?" Anakin deduced.
Qui-Gon sighed. "He disagrees with your decision to help Ahsoka Tano's friend."
"The Inquisitor prisoner?" Anakin asked. "Barriss Offee, She needs mental help and the rebellion won't be able to help her with the balance she needs to receive it," he explained. Then he sighed. "First, I didn't even agree to help Barriss. I only shifted a few things so it was on top of the to do list for the next time we met."
"A dark sider she is." Yoda insisted. "Help her, you cannot. With darkness comes suffering, the way it is."
"And second, I don't see what's so bad about trying. Even if we can't actually do anything, Ahsoka will feel better, knowing we did," Anakin continued.
"Risking much, you are," Yoda replied.
"No, I don't think we are." Obi-Wan spoke up. "We learned from what happened with Tel-Mac. I think there are safer protocols we can use to be sure none of our members are influenced."
Anakin nodded and he relaxed, for the first time feeling like he might be able to do this.
Chewbacca took the younglings to the meetup point they had established before the battle. A small camp had been set up nearby. There, his people took the younglings one by one to interview them about where their families might be located. Chewbacca sat with Lumpawaroo and Yavaaroo in the middle of the camp, waiting on the others. When he saw Han approaching, he stood up again.
"Hey buddy. Do your friends need to be processed? Sargent Lakii says their paperwork still needs to be done."
"No, that isn't necessary. This is Lumpawaroo, my son, and Yavaaroo, my nephew. They will be under my protection while we are here. Boys, this is brother Han."
Han blushed. "Awe, thank you Chewy. I consider you a brother too. Hey, I didn't know you had a family." He roughly pushed Chewbacca's shoulder.
Lumpawaroo and Yavaaroo both looked at eachother and snickered. They understood that he was introducing Han as a brother to the younglings, thus claiming him as a son. But neither said anything.
"Let's see, you both need nicknames," Han started to think, and they could smell oil burning, as if an engine were about to fail.
"Lumpawaroo has been called Lumpy," Chewbacca shared.
"Awe, Dad. No." Lumpawaroo shifted. "That's a kid's name. The other's call me…"
"...Waroo." Both finished at the same time. Lumpawaroo nodded at Han, who turned to the youngest wookiee. "And you can be Yavi." The youngest nodded too, and Han smiled to himself. "Come on now. They're setting up a mess tent here. Let me find you boys something to eat."
Hello Everybody,
I felt like I had to make half of this chapter Chewbacca's perspective. That way I could write out the Shyriiwook as english. I hope it isn't difficult for you to imagine.
Yavaaroo is a made up character. There is no mention of Chewbacca having a brother, or a nephew in Canon, as far as I know. Lumpawaroo, however, is a canon character. He is Chewbacca's son, and he really did end up sent with a bunch of other younglings to Mount Arayakyak, where the empire held a little child slave camp. I don't think, in Canon, Chewbacca was there for the liberation, which happened some time later in the original timeline. I hope you can feel for poor Chewy, having to choose between saving his Wife and his only son. Yavaaroo was an addition that felt right in the story, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with him, but that often happens in writing. At least for me. Anyways, it seems like Chewy's intending to adopt him, but that's just the character's opinion. I don't know what I'm going to do.
And with Anakin, I felt like I needed to bring up the Force Ghost thing again in a unique way, since I kinda dropped it after a few chapters, and hadn't brought it up again since. It sounds very in character for Anakin to just assume Yoda's crazy and not do his homework. I know Luke kinda heard Obi-Wan's force ghost with seemingly little training, but maybe Obi-Wan did give him some training in it on the Millenium Falcon, hmm? And Luke is Anakin's son, so he'd inherit the "giftedness" at it that Yoda was referring to here, too. And it is Canon that it took Obi-Wan a while to be able to talk to Qui-Gon. I know that was kinda blamed on his emotional turmoil after losing Anakin, but…
Anyways, next chapter Chewbacca will be rejoining the group that Leia is in, then they will all be going off against the big bad Imperial warships that will arrive to retake Kashyyyk. There may be an action sequence in there. And then stuff's gonna happen.