Chapter 3
DISCLAIMER: no.
It was the dead of the night, dark and silent around Jabba's palace. Everybody there was asleep.
Perfect for the reckless duo to wander around the corridors.
Boushh lead the way, in case Daithi accidently fell down the stairs and caused a racket. Walking across the doorway, he accidently bumped his helmet on some chimes.
"And you say I'm clumsy." Daithi whispered in his snake-like voice.
Making sure nobody was around, Boushh and Daithi strode across the throne room to the carbonite man in the alcove.
Boushh went to the left of the carbonite slab, pressing the buttons to release Han from the wall. The carbonite came done with a small bang, causing Daithi to jump and wave his arms around like a madman.
Boushh continued with the buttons on the side, pressing one before standing with Daithi right in front of Han.
The watched as the carbonite around his body slowly sizzled away, releasing the smuggler into Boushh's arms.
"Just relax for a moment." He said as he held him in his arms. "You're free of the carbonite." He spoke in his robotic voice.
Han touched his face with shaky fingers from the shock and moaned, while Daithi kneeled down next to him, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"Shhh." Boushh comforted Han. "You have hibernation sickness."
"You may experience an upset stomach." Warned Daithi. "Preferably not on me, thanks."
"I can't see." Were Han Solo's first words.
"Your eyesight will return in time." Boushh replied.
"Where am I?" asked Han.
"Jabba's palace." Boushh replied again.
"A place I do not fancy too much." Added Daithi.
"Who are you?"
The bounty hunter reached up and lifted the helmet from their head, revealing their face and true face.
"Someone who loves you." Leia smiled. Daithi gagged.
"Leia!" Han exclaimed as the two shared a kiss. "Wait, who's the other one?"
Daithi slowly lowered their hood and removed their red and grey Mandalorian mask along with the small voice manipulator that hung to their mouth.
"Someone who hates who." Kat gasped for air. "Kriff, that thing stinks."
"Snowball!"
"We gotta get you out of here." Leia said as the two women helped Han up by hanging his arms around their shoulders.
They only managed to make a few steps before they heard the terrible Hutt's cackle.
"Oh… shivat kriffing bantha poodoo…" Kat cursed to herself. Things just got hecka worse.
"What's that" Han swallowed nervously. "I know that laugh."
"I know the feeling." Kat mentally kept slapping herself in her mind.
On the far side of the alcove a red curtain opened, revealing Jabba the Hutt alone with the rest of his alien friends and servants, all laughing at their new catch.
"Hey, Jabba. Look, Jabba," Han stuttered as Kat and Leia helped him face the right way. "I was just on my way to pay you back, but I got a little side-tracked. It's not my fault."
Jabba only continued laughing. "It's too late for that, Solo. You may have been a good smuggler, but now you're Bantha fodder..." He bellowed in Huttese.
"Look-"
"… Take him away!"
The guards grabbed Han and started to lead him away, leaving Kat and Leia stunned and help by more gamoreans.
"Jabba... I'll pay you triple! You're throwing away a fortune here! Don't be a fool!" Han continued yelling for his mercy.
One of the skiff guards, of which Leia and Kat knew by the face, quickly attempted to move the two away.
"Bring the girls to me."
It was too late for escape now. They'd have to rely on Luke. And if things got bad, Luke and Kat.
Jabba chuckled as Lando and a second guard dragged the women before him. He was inspecting the Princess first. Threepio was peeking out from behind Jabba to watch the scene.
"We have powerful friends. You're gonna regret this..." Leia threatened.
"I'm sure."
Kat's eyes widened. She's the new favourite. Each time she had been here when she was sixteen there were dancing girls everywhere, but one always got to be the 'lucky one' and chained to the gangster lord himself.
Oh, poor Leia.
Jabba's tongue rolled out of his disgusting mouth in admiration of Leia. Leia looked as though she was about to vomit.
"Ugh!"
"Ohhh, I can't bear to watch." Threepio exclaimed from behind Jabba.
"Bring my old friend closer."
Leia was dragged down and Kat was pushed up next to Jabba. She hadn't realised how tightly the guards had their grip on her. If Luke wasn't such a numpty then I would have us out of here in seconds.
"Hey, Jabba," Kat's voice shook slightly.
"Well isn't this exciting? My favourite female smuggler has returned! After all these years we were starting to think about raising that bounty on your head…"
"Perhaps if you gave me a fair deal six years ago-" Kat replied in her best Huttese, but was cut off by the bellowing voice of the giant slug.
"You're lucky you aren't in the pits with the rancor by now!" Jabba interrupted. "The only reason you aren't is because I've always wondered what you'd look like as a dancer…"
"Well, I wouldn't let dreams run wild, because I could easily out strength your men-"
"Ha! You are no Jedi, my pretty. Take the girls away!"
Kat and Leia were reunited again in the centre of the throne room.
"I don't have any idea what you said," Leia scolded. "but I bet you just aggravated the monster."
"Yeah, I'm good at getting Jabba angry."
"What's happening, exactly?"
"Well, I thought you were gonna have it bad," Kat explained as they continued being dragged away. "You're going into private modelling, I'm going into public services!"
Kat felt his presence. He was close. Very close.
Ever since Dagobah, she had been able to hear much more than she thought. She could hear whispers from the other side of the room, a bounty hunter's next catch…
… him using that Jedi mind trick.
"I must speak with Jabba." He boldly stated as he stepped through the archway with his black hood over his head.
Bib answered in his Huttese, shaking his head in denial. Luke stopped and stared at Bib, waving his hand in front of his face slightly.
"You will take me to Jabba now." He commanded.
The pale Twi'lek immediately obeyed his new orders.
"You serve your master well."
Bib responded in Huttese again.
"And you will be rewarded." Luke waved his hand as he entered the throne room.
Kat saw his eyes land on Leia, who sat in Jabba's lap dressed up in a gold, bronze and maroon slave girl's outfit. She had a collar around her neck which was attached to a chain which led to Jabba's hand.
Kat then felt his eyes pierce hers. She sat near Jabba's tail, and was dressed up much the same as Leia, except she was in gold and white. Her hair was in a simple high ponytail rather than Leia's braid, and instead of the Princess' maroon boots she had cream coloured sandals that warpped all the way up to her mid-thigh. Also, Kat had a thin see-through shawl wrapped around her arms for dignity, or as Jabba said "to hide those scars on the left". She didn't have a chain attached to her for Jabba to pull, so she had freedom in where she walked around the throne room, but she wore a much worse collar around her neck.
It was much thicker and had a red bleeping light on its side.
Kat saw Luke turn his head back to Jabba, attempting to fix the fron which had formed on his forhead.
"Well, well, well," Kat exclaimed. "Look what the wampa dragged in!"
Kat earned another glare from Luke, but this one said something more like "shut up, I'm trying to rescue you".
"At last! Master Luke's come to rescue me!" Threepio exclaimed from behind the sleeping Jabba.
"Master…" Bib whispered into Jabba's ear, causing him jump awake. The Twi'lek continued talking to his master in Huttese. "...Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight."
"I told you not to admit him!"
Luke stepped forward. "I must be allowed to speak."
"He must be allowed to speak."
Jabba was furious, pushing Bib Fortuna out of the way.
"You weak-minded fool! He's using an old Jedi mind trick."
Luke stared hard at Jabba with tensions rising. Kat could feel them from both the Slug Prince of Crime and the Jedi Knight.
"You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee to me." He said as he lowered his hood.
"Your mind powers will not work on me, boy."
"Will people stop calling him 'boy'?" Kat whispered to herself, although Jabba may have heard as she felt the sharp pain shoot through her neck.
He didn't like her talking often.
"Nevertheless, I'm taking Captain Solo and his friends." Luke stated. "You can either profit by this... or be destroyed. It's your choice. But I warn you not to underestimate my powers." He spoke calmly.
"He's underestimating mine, so don't dream to big." She earned another small zap.
Jabba laughed at Luke's boldness and Kat's pain. is mean and loud. Threepio attempted to warn Luke about the pit, and Kat caught on.
"Master Luke, you're standing on-"
"There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die."
"Luke, run you idiot!" Jabba hadn't heard her through the chaos that followed.
Luke reached out and a blaster pistol jumped out of a guard's holster and flew into his hand. The bewildered guard grabs for it as Jabba raised his hand.
"Bascka!"
"You idiot!"
The floor suddenly dropped away, sending Luke and the gamorean guard into the pit. The pistol went off, blasting a hole in the ceiling. Jabba laughed and his courtiers joined in. Leia tried to lean forward but was restrained. Kat was able to get up and make her way through the crowd to get a good look at the pit below.
Luke tumbled down the tunnel and landed, rolling gracefully into the sand and throwing his cloak off. The guard came down next, squealing in fright as he tried to climb back up and escape.
At the side of the pit, the large iron door rumbled upward and the giant, fanged Rancor emerged.
The Rancor moved past Luke, and as the guard continues to scramble, the Rancor simply picked him up and popped him into its massive jaws. After a few screams and bone-crunching noises, the beast turned to the young Jedi.
Luke dashed away just ahead of the monster's swipe at him, and picked up a long arm bone of an earlier victim. The monster grabbed Luke and brought him up to its salivating mouth. At the last moment, Luke wedged the bone in the monster's mouth and was dropped to the floor. The Rancor bellowed in rage and flailed about, giving Luke small time to hide.
The monster crushed the bone in its jaws and saw Luke squeeze into a small crevice in the pit wall. Luke looked past the monster to the holding cave beyond. On the far side of the holding cave he spied a utility door. If I could get to that... The Rancor reached into the crevice for him. Luke grabbed a large rock and raised it, smashing it down on the Rancor's finger.
The Rancor let out a loud howl and Luke made a run for the holding cave. He reached the door and pushed a button to open it. Succeeding, he saw a heavy barred gate between him and the safety. Two guards beyond the gate glared at the prisoner. Luke turned to see the monster heading for him, and pulled with all his might on the gate. The guards moved to the gate and started poking at the young Jedi with their spears.
Luke leaned against the wall as the monster started coming closer to him. He couldn't think of another escape plan.
"Son of Skywalker, the control panel!" the female voice spoke to him. Luke looked around the area bewildered.
"Skywalker! The main control panel! On the other side of the cave! Hit it, now!" the voice panicked.
He look around and sure enough, next to the iron gate, was the main controls. Seeing the Rancor head towards him, he wouldn't be able to reach them in time. Picking up a rock, he flung it at the controls and hit it with a spark. The gate suddenly fell down on top of the beast, crushing its neck as it let out a final groan.
Around the court, gasps and voices of shock rung around the room. Kat breathed out a sigh of relief as well as Leia.
Jabba was outraged by Luke's escape. "Bring me Solo and the Wookiee! They will all suffer for this outrage!"
Kat saw the people make way for the guards who held Luke, Han and Chewie by the arm.
"Han!"
"Luke!"
"Are you all right?"
"Fine. Together again, huh?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
"How are we doing?"
"Same as always."
"That bad, huh? Where's Leia?"
Leia lifted her head. "I'm here." She said from Jabba's lap.
"What the hell is happening now?" Kat managed to come up next to Luke.
Luke looked down at Kat smiled like a four-year-old on his birthday. "I'm rescuing you." He stated cheerfully.
Kat looked at the guards who held Luke by his arms, the skimpy outfit she was forced to wear and felt the shock collar around her neck.
"Good job." She raised her eyebrows at him, then returned to her spot back near Jabba's tail and attempted to remain silent.
"Oh, dear..." Threepio reluctantly turned to Luke and Han and translated Jabba's words of rage. "His High Exaltedness, the great Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately…"
"Good, I hate long waits." Han blandly commented.
"… You will therefore be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc."
"Doesn't sound so bad."
Kat slapped herself on the head. "That damned Sarlacc kicker!"
"… In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years."
Han's eyes widened, even though he could barely see. "On second thought, let's pass on that, huh?"
Chewie howled in his agreement.
"You should have bargained, Jabba." Luke couldn't keep his smile down as he and Han were dragged away. "That's the last mistake you'll ever make.
Jabba cackled evilly at Luke's words.
Luke made a last minute glance towards Kat and winked at her. Showtime!
Kat smiled and winked back. She would be mad at him later for his idiotic plan, but at least it had a certain fun part to it.
Kat could never wait for fun.
Must get it done before Sept. 5th, MUST GET IT DONE BEFORE SEPT. 5TH, MUST GET IT DONE BEFORE SEPT. 5TH, MUST GET IT DONE BEFORE SEPT. 5TH.
- yoda-is-cool.