Lost in the Snow
Star Wars is copyright to Disney, Lucasfilm etc. I own nothing except my OC
This story is the second in the Farmer's Adventure series, featuring my OC Malia Lars. I'd recommend reading the first story in this series, The Farmer's Adventure: A New Hope first in order to get an introduction to Malia. Just a reminder to those returning from that story, Malia is Luke's cousin and I picture her as looking like Shelley Hennig, but with blue eyes instead of brown. As of this story, she's 22 years old.
It had been three years since the Rebel Alliance's victory at the Battle of Yavin. Unfortunately, their victory had been short-lived as the Empire had soon driven the Rebels out of their base on Yavin IV and pursued them across the galaxy. Eventually, a sizable faction of the Alliance had managed to create a new base on the remote ice world of Hoth.
Late one afternoon, a Tauntaun galloped across Hoth's snow plains with a single figure on it's back. The Tauntaun paused on top of a hillock and the rider lifted up their snow goggles to reveal themselves as Luke Skywalker. He saw a flaming object crash to the ground nearby so he took out his electrobinoculars and looked at the impact area to see a large plume of snow rising from the impact. He then lowered his binoculars and switched on his wrist comlink. "Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han, ol' buddy, do ya read me?" he asked
"Loud and clear, kid." the voice of Han Solo answered. "What's up?"
"Well, I finished my circle." Luke replied. "I don't pick up any life reading."
"There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser." Han snorted. "Sensors are in place, I'm going back."
"Right, I'll see you shortly." Luke acknowledged. "There's a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I wanna check it out. Won't take long." Just as he hung up his comlink, his Tauntaun began to bray nervously. "Steady girl!" Luke soothed. "Hey, steady! What's the matter? Ya smell something?"
It turned out that the Tauntaun had smelt something, for suddenly, an eleven-foot tall Wampa came out of nowhere and roared at the Human. Before Luke could react, the Wampa swung it's enormous paw at him and knocked him clean off the Tauntaun, causing him to fall unconscious into the snow. The Wampa then proceeded to kill the Tauntaun with a quick snap of the neck then it dragged both the unconscious Luke and the dead Tauntaun away.
~8~
Han Solo rode his Tauntaun up to the entrance of a huge ice cave. This was the main hangar of the new Rebel base, with X-wings and T-47 airspeeders all undergoing maintenance. Han dismounted from his Tauntaun, pulled down the hood of his thick snow coat and made his way through the hangar to where the Millennium Falcon was undergoing repairs. Chewbacca was sitting atop of the Falcon doing some welding. "Chewie." Han called. "Chewie?"
Chewbacca removed his welding goggles and growled at Han, yelling at him for buggering off and leaving him to carry out the repairs by himself.
"Alright, don't loose your temper." Han said to him. "I'll come right back and give ya a hand."
Chewbacca just gave an irritated grunt and got back to work while Han set off to the base's control room.
~8~
The makeshift control room had been made in one of the ice caverns and was a hive of activity, with officers and Protocol droids all hard at work at computer consoles. Princess Leia Organa was standing near one of the consoles. She gave Han a slight look as he entered the room then turned back to her console. Han went over to General Carlist Rieekan. "Solo." the general greeted
"No sign of life out there, General." Han reported. "Sensors're in place, you'll know if anything comes around."
"Commander Skywalker reported in yet?" Rieekan asked
"No, he's checkin' out a meteorite that hit near him." Han replied
"With all the meteor activity in this system, it's gonna be difficult to spot approaching ships." Rieekan commented
Han decided there was no point in beating about the bush any longer. "General, I gotta leave. I can't stay anymore."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Well, there's a price on my head." Han explained. "If I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt, I'm a dead man."
"A death mark's not an easy thing to live with." Rieekan said understandingly. "You're a good fighter, Solo, I hate to loose you." He held out a hand.
"Thank you, General." Han said as he shook Rieekan's hand, then he walked over to Leia. "Well, Your Highness, I guess this is goodbye." Han remarked
"That's right." Leia said curtly, apparently not caring in the slightest.
Han was somewhat offended. "Well, don't get all mushy on me. So long, Princess." he said sarcastically and stalked away.
Leia promptly stormed out after him. "Han!" she called
"Yes, Your Highnessness?" Han said as he turned to her.
"I thought you had decided to stay." Leia reminded him
"Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind." Han replied
"Han, we need you." Leia implored him
"We need?" Han cocked an eyebrow smugly
"Yes."
"What about you need?"
"I need?" Leia frowned in confusion. "I don't know what ya talking about."
"You probably don't." Han smirked and walked away.
"And what precisely am I supposed to know?" Leia demanded as she followed him
"Come on!" Han snorted. "You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me."
"Yes. You're a great help to us. You're a natural leader." Leia said
Han stopped and spun round to face her. "No! That's not it." he smirked. "Come on. Ah-hah! Come on!" he egged
Leia realised what he was implying. "You're imagining things." she snorted, eyeing him with distaste.
"Am I? Then why're you following me?" Han countered. "Afraid I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?"
"I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie." Leia retorted
"I can arrange that." Han shot back as he stalked away again. "You could use a good kiss!"
~8~
About an hour later, Malia Lars walked along a corridor with R2-D2 and C-3PO, the two droids arguing as usual. "Don't try to blame me," Threepio said to Artoo, "I didn't ask you to turn the thermal heater on. I merely commented that it was freezing in the Princess' chamber."
Artoo beeped an indignant response
"But it's SUPPPOSED to be freezing." Threepio argued. "How we're going to dry out all her clothes I really don't know."
"Oh, will you two stop arguing?" Malia interrupted. "We've got more important things to worry about than a bit of melted ice." She led the droids into the hangar, where Han was currently yelling at Chewbacca for taking the Millennium Falcon's quad laser cannons off-line for maintenance. "Hey, Han." Malia called. "I've been trying to get ya on the communicator for the last 10 minutes. Don't ya ever answer?"
"I turned it off." Han replied. "I don't wanna talk to Leia."
"Yeah, well, you can be childish if you want," Malia replied, "but just answer me this: where the hell is Luke? He ain't come back yet."
"I don't know where he is." Han replied
"Nobody knows where he is." Threepio said
"What d'ya mean. 'nobody knows'?" Han frowned
"Well, uh, you see..." Threepio began
"Deck officer." Han yelled, cutting Threepio off. "Deck officer!"
"Excuse me," Threepio began, "might I..."
"Not now, Threepio." Malia cut him off as the deck officer joined them.
"D'ya know where Commander Skywalker is?" Han asked the deck officer
"I haven't seen him." the deck officer replied. "It's possible he came in through the south entrance."
"It's possible? Why don't you find out?" Han ordered. "It's getting dark out there."
"Yes, sir." the deck officer acknowledged and went off to do so.
"Might I enquire what's going on?" Threepio ventured
"Why not?" Han waved him off as he and Malia went off after the deck officer.
"Impossible man." Threepio grumbled. "Come on, Artoo. Let's find Princess Leia. Between ourselves, I think Master Luke is in considerable danger."
~8~
Han and Malia arrived at the base's south entrance, where the Tauntaun pens were located. They found the deck officer talking to Major Bren Derlin about Luke's whereabouts. "Commander Skywalker hasn't come in through the south entrance." Derlin informed Han and Malia. "He might've forgotten to check in."
"Not our Luke." Malia told him. "He's always meticulous about things like that."
"Are the speeders ready?" Han asked her
"No, still working on 'em." Malia replied gloomily. "The first ones won't be ready till morning."
"Then we'll have to go out on Tauntauns." Han decided, moving to one of the pens.
"Right with ya, Han." Malia agreed, grabbing a backpack full of equipment and following him.
"Sir, ma'am, the temperature's dropping too rapidly!" the deck officer told them
"Yeah, and my cousin's out there in it." Malia said grimly as she and Han both mounted a pair of Tauntauns.
"Your Tauntauns will freeze before either of you reach the first marker." the deck officer warned them
"Then we'll see you in hell!" Han retorted, and he and Malia set off to find Luke.
~8~
Luke regained consciousness to find himself hanging upside down in an ice cavern. As he regained his bearings, he heard the roar of the Wampa and saw the vicious creature stuffing it's face on Luke's Tauntaun. Ignoring the pain from the nasty wound on the side of his face, Luke immediately tried to get himself free but found that his feet were frozen into the ice on the cave's ceiling and it was no use. Then Luke noticed his lightsabre lying in the snow on the floor just below his head, having fallen from his belt when the Wampa had hung him on the ceiling. Luke stretched his arm out to try and grab his weapon, but it was just out of reach. Luke closed his eyes and concentrated, letting the Force flow through him. The Wampa seemed to realise that it's prey was awake and began to advance towards Luke. Luke's eyes snapped open and his lightsabre shot out of the snow and into his outstretched hand. Luke quickly ignited the blade and used it to melt the ice binding his feet. He flopped to the floor and picked himself up to see the Wampa almost on him. Luke swung his sabre around and sliced the Wampa's right arm clean off. The creature promptly gave an enraged roar of pain and anger. Luke quickly shut his lightsabre off and fled from the cave. He scrambled outside to find that it was dusk and a biting wind was blowing. Seeing that he had no choice, Luke began the long walk back to base.
~8~
Artoo stood outside the Rebel base with his sensor scope extended, hoping to pick up any signal from his master. "You must come along, Artoo." Threepio told him. "There's really nothing more we can do. And my joints are freezing up."
Artoo gave a long and slow beep.
"Don't say things like that!" Threepio chided him. "Of course we'll see Master Luke again! And he'll be quite alright. Mistress Malia and Captain Solo will find him, you'll see." He then turned on his heel and went back inside the base. "Stupid little short-circuit." he muttered to himself. "He'll be quite alright."
~8~
The biting cold wind continued to howl as Luke slowly trudged through the snow. He was getting dark spots in his vision but he tried his best to keep going. Suddenly, a strong blast of wind knocked him over. Panting heavily for breath, Luke struggled to his feet and plodded on. He lost his footing and fell flat on his face in the snow, too weak to continue.
~8~
Han and Malia's Tauntauns galloped through the snow. Both Humans felt the biting cold but their protective gear saved them from the worst of it. Presently, they stopped and dismounted, with Han taking out a scanning device from his backpack. "I've got something." he shouted to Malia over the noise of the wind. "A life sign about 20 klics this way. Could be Luke."
"Echo Fourteen to Echo Three. Luke, do ya read me?" Malia said into her comlink. "Luke, it's Malia. Can you hear me? Are you alright?" But she received no answer. Then Malia's Tauntaun suddenly keeled over dead, the cold proving too much for it. "Great." Malia groaned
"Come on, Angel. We've gotta keep moving." Han said grimly, and they both made for Han's Tauntaun.
~8~
"Sir, all the patrols are in," a Rebel officer reported to Major Derlin, "still no..." Derlin held a hand up to silence the officer and gestured to Leia, who was pacing anxiously next to Luke's X-wing. "Still no contact with Skywalker, Solo or Lars." the officer told Derlin quietly
Threepio and Artoo came over to Leia. "Mistress Leia, Artoo says he's been quite unable to pick up any signals." Threepio reported sadly. "Although... he does admit that his own range is far too weak to abandon all hope."
"Your Highness, there's nothing more we can do tonight." Derlin told Leia gently. "The shield doors must be closed."
Leia gave a resigned nod.
"Close the doors." Derlin ordered.
"Yes, sir." the officer acknowledged
Artoo beeped something to Threepio as the hangar doors began to close
"Artoo says the chances of survial are 725 to 1." Threepio translated for Leia.
Chewbacca gave a mournful howl as the hangars doors slammed shut, effectively shutting out his three friends who were still out there.
Threepio turned back to Leia. "Actually, Artoo has been known to make mistakes... from time to time." he said in a feeble attempt to lift everyone's spirits. "Oh, dear, oh, dear." he sighed as he turned walked back over to Artoo. "Don't worry about Master Luke and Mistress Malia," he told his counterpart, "I'm sure they'll be alright. They're quite clever, you know, for Human beings."
All Artoo could do was beep in response, telling Threepio that he hoped he was right.
~8~
A barely-conscious Luke lay face down in the snow, lacking the strength to move even a single muscle as hypothermia began to take effect. "Luke." a familiar voice called. "Luke."
Luke managed to lift his head in time to see a Force spirit of the late Obi-Wan Kenobi appear in front of him. "Ben?" he gasped weakly
"You will go to the Dagobah system." Obi-Wan instructed Luke
"Dagobah system?"
"There you will learn from Yoda... the Jedi Master who instructed me." Obi-Wan finished, then disappeared just as a Tauntaun came into view.
"Ben..." Luke croaked before lapsing into unconsciousness again.
"Luke!" Malia cried as she leapt off the Tauntaun and raced over to her fallen cousin. "Luke, it's me!" She rolled him over onto his back. "Hang on, Luke. Stay with me!" she fussed anxiously. "Keep fighting!" She took out some medical equipment from her backpack and used it on Luke. "He's hypothermic." she told Han. "We've gotta get him out of the cold, fast!"
Han then saw the Tauntaun keel over just like Malia's had earlier. "Get him over there." he instructed Malia, and they both dragged the unconscious Luke over to the dead Tauntaun, Luke babbling deliriously in his sleep. Thinking quickly, Han took Luke's lightsabre and used it to slice open the Tauntaun's stomach. "Hang on, kid." he told Luke. "This may smell bad, kid... but it'll keep you warm... till we get the shelter up."
Han and Malia managed to get Luke inside the Tauntaun. "Whoo!" Malia grimaced at the smell
"Yeah." Han agreed. "I thought they smelt bad... on the outside." Then he and Malia set to work putting up an insulated tent Malia had brought with them, knowing that they had no choice but to hunker down for the night and hope for rescue in the morning.
~8~
Next morning, three airspeeders flew over over Hoth's snow plains, searching for the three missing Rebels. Leading the search was pilot Zev Senesca. "Echo Base, I've got something." he reported, detecting a signal on his scanner. "Not much but it could be a lifeform." He then piloted his speeder in the direction the signal was coming from. "Commander Skywalker, do you copy?" he said into the radio. "This is Rogue Two. Captain Solo, do you copy? This is Rogue Two. Lieutenant Lars, do you copy? This is Rogue Two."
"About bloody time, Zev!" Malia's voice said over the radio. "We've found Luke. He needs medical attention, but he's gonna be ok. Don't s'pose we could get a lift back to base?"
"Sure thing, 'Lia." Zev laughed, glad that they were alright. "Echo Base, this is Rogue Two," he reported to base, "I've found them. Repeat: I've found them." And he brought his speeder into land where Han and Malia were waving him down.
Author's notes: And I'm back with the second instalment of this series. I took a two-week break from writing but I'm ready to resume work now. The Empire Strikes Back is gonna be fun to adapt. I can promise that this story is likely to be longer than the previous one as I've got more of the film to cover. Note that I had Malia accompany Han in his rescue of Luke. I felt that it was in character for her to want to go out and rescue her cousin. So, we're back with our old friends and ready for more thrills and spills in the galaxy far far away. Hope you like the new story and see ya next time!