CHAPTER 2:
Darth Vader walked down the isle of storm troopers and Imperial officers who stood straight at attention, mostly out of fear. The Commander that the Emperor put in charge to oversee the construction of the Death Star stammered as he greeted the Dark Lord. When Vader continued to stroll down the aisle, the Commander, followed, his voice trembling as he gave excuses for the lack of progress of construction. Vader hated nothing more than excuses, and he basically tuned the stumbling man out. Why the Emperor chose such a weak man to be in charge of the Empire's largest project since the construction of the first Death Star—especially after the demise of the first—Vader didn't understand.
Too much faith was put into that first Death Star, as Vader warned Grand Mott Tarkin. Too much faith was being put into this second Death star as well, and it was even more vulnerable because it wasn't completed. Why another Death Star anyway? Why was the Emperor repeating the past? The Emperor kept Vader in the dark, only sharing ambiguous visions and pieces of plans that the Emperor dreamt up to defeat the rebels once and for all. Palpatine expected the Dark Lord to blindly obey his commands, as Vader did when he was still Anakin Skywalker.
However, Vader knew the Emperor was becoming starting to distrust him; it was the way of the Sith. Only two Sith could exist: a Master and an Apprentice. Vader was becoming too powerful to be just an apprentice, and the Emperor knew—felt—his apprentice's ire and dissatisfaction, his restlessness. Underneath his black armor which kept him alive, Vader was still Anakin Skywalker, impulsive and selfish. And as it was the way of the Sith, the apprentice would one day kill the Master and take his place. This was inevitable. And Vader felt his Master becoming weak.
Just look at the second Death Star. This space station was in a weaker state than the first since it had not been completed. If the rebels found out that the Death Star station was still under construction, they could easily exploit that. The second one will be flawed just as the first Death Star proved to be flawed. That first space station was easily destroyed by a proton torpedo, no less, from an X-Wing fired by a boy—his son—who was strong in the Force, as Vader was when he a child. He recalled Qui Gon Jinn testing his blood, when he was still Anakin just ten years old and a slave working for Watto. Qui Gon was looking for mitochondrials, and Anakin's mitochondrial count was the highest the Jedi ever saw. Anakin was special; Anakin was the Chosen One.
Chosen for what? Darth Vader had to wonder. He more than helped destroy the Jedi. He struck down the youngest padwans—just children they were, but any being possessing the Force was a danger to the New Order—and he struck these young ones down with the hate in his cold heart. And he hated his former Master and closest friend, Obi Wan Kenobi, whom Anakin/Darth Vader tried to kill, only to lose. It was Obi Wan who had turned Anakin into his present condition trapped in this mechanical monstrosity after his former Master left his to be burnt up by the lava on Mustafar. But Vader/Anakin finally won when he killed Kenobi in a light saber battle on the first Death Star.
You can't with, Darth. If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Obi Wan's final words to Darth Vader; words that continued to haunt him just as much as how Kenobi allowed Vader to strike him down that day.
It didn't matter anymore. Anakin Skywalker was dead now, but Chancellor Palpatine—now the Emperor—gave him new life. His metamorphism into his new menacing being, more machine than man, and Vader's full embrace the Dark Side made him even more powerful than he was as the Jedi Anakin. Darth Vader still had life, and he still had the ire and aggression that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker. It was a fact, Darth Vader would not exist if it wasn't for the Emperor's genius and generosity. And Darth Vader resented the Emperor for that.
The Emperor lied to him, just like he lied to the Jedi. Chancellor Palpatine told Anakin that he knew the secrets of preventing death. Visions of Padme dying, plagued Anakin, and he wanted nothing more than to save her. He couldn't live without her. In the end, it was Anakin/Vader who killed his beloved wife out of anger and jealousy, believing Kenobi turned his beloved against him. And the Emperor never taught him how to prevent that.
But Padme lived long enough to bear Anakin's/Vader's child, a child that Obi Wan had hid from him. He would kill that old Jedi again if he could.
I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Just as he did with Padme, Obi Wan Kenobi turned Vader's son against him. Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader's son, was strong in the Force like his father, maybe even stronger than Vader was himself. Obi Wan could influence the boy no more. Or could he? A chill ran down Vader's spine. It was not possible, but something whispered of the possibility in the back of the Dark Lord's mind.
The Commander babbled on and Vader returned his attention to the fearful man as he walked down the aisle on the half-constructed Death Star. If he could, Vader would use the Force to lift this measly excuse of an Imperial Commander in the air and choke him to death. That certainly would put a fire under the men constructing the Death Star. But the Emperor would not take kindly to the death of the Commander. This Commander was already the fourth one chosen for this job; Vader had used the previous three as examples to incite fear in those constructing the space station. It contributed to the slow progress of its construction, and perhaps that was why the Emperor was coming to oversee the construction himself.
"Perhaps you can tell him when he arrives."
"The Emperor's coming here?" the Commander's voice rose in pitch and he stopped in his tracks.
"That is correct, Commander, and he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress.
"We shall double our efforts."
"I hope so, Commander, for your sake." Vader threatened. "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."
Darth Vader's black cape whirled around his form as he sharply turned and continued on to his quarters. There were more important things on the Dark Lord's mind that had nothing to do with partially constructed space stations. He thought of only one thing: Luke Skywalker.
As the Dark Lord walked the corridor, storm troopers and Imperial grunts snapped to attention. He ignored them. Instead, Vader's mind was preoccupied with the battle between him and his son on Bespin. He replayed it like a holovid, freezing each frame for a moment as the images passed. Like Darth Vader was as the child Anakin, Luke Skywalker was strong in the Force. He also sensed the boy's yearning for adventure, his impulsiveness, just like his father before him. Someone had given Luke some training, but from whom did he receive this training? From Obi Wan Kenobi, the man who trained Vader when he was still Anakin?
What was left of the Dark Lord's blood boiled at the thought of Kenobi training Vader's son. Obi Wan's greatest betrayal was hiding Vader's son from him. Kenobi had to be the one to pass Vader's light saber on to Luke. He had to be the one to train his son in the ways of the Force. The Dark Lord recognized some of Kenobi's technique as Vader battled Luke.
But it wasn't just Obi Wan who had shown Luke the ways of the Force. It was obvious someone else had a hand in Luke's training; there was a distinctive style to the boy's skills, reminding him of yet another Jedi Master…but that would be impossible. The Emperor had killed that old Jedi.
But the boy clearly lacked full control of the Force and of his emotions; his training was incomplete. Luke Skywalker would not become a Jedi, and the Sith will have prevailed.
During their light saber battle, Luke was wild, prideful, and undisciplined, though he put up a good fight. Imagine how powerful the boy would be when Luke received proper training in the ways of the Sith. Darth Vader would complete the boy's training; he would teach his son to harness his fear, aggression, and anger. He would show the boy how powerful he would become when he embraced the Dark Side.
Vader entered his sphere-like chamber inside his quarters. The Emperor knew how powerful Luke Skywalker would one day be. The thought of the Emperor made his lip twitch. Soon the Emperor would betray him. Once Palpatine had his gnarly hands on Luke, he would turn Luke against Vader by tapping into the boy's anger and pit him against Vader until one of them was dead. If Darth Vader killed his son, then he will have proven that he was still worthy of being the Emperor's right hand man. If Luke defeated Vader, he would become the Emperor's apprentice. And Luke could possibly win. As the Emperor aged, he had started to look at Vader as a threat; and the Emperor was right. As soon as he felt his son presence, he began plotting to displace the Emperor and rule the galaxy with his son.
All in good time….
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The suns relentlessly beat down on Princess Leia and Chewbacca. After leaving their speeder a distance away from their destination, they walked sided by side, the Wookie taking smaller strides so that the princess didn't have to expend extra energy to keep up with him. Chewbacca, with his hands bound together by stun cuffs, pulled on the metal ring around his neck. Leia had made it as loose as possible, but she still had to make it look like Chewie was her prisoner. A chain long enough for her to hold her "captive" was connected to the metal ring around his neck and hung freely down his chest.
Beside the Wookie, the princess pulled at the collar of her bounty hunter suit as sweat collected along her hairline and slid down her face. Under her arm she held a uniquely shaped helmet with the voice distorter that would hide her true identity. She felt uncertain, afraid that their plan wouldn't work. Han was counting on them; he had to know that he wouldn't be abandoned by his friends, by her.
I love you.
I know.
Would he remember her confession? Would he remember their forty day trip from Hoth to Cloud City? Would his mind be in tact? Or would he succumb to the insanity from being frozen in carbonite? As he was about to be lowered into the carbonite chamber, Han feigned courage and seemed to accept his fate. But Leia felt his fear, and she could do nothing about it. Her stomach turned as she remembered Han's last moments, how he kept his hazel eyes on her as he was lowered into the chamber. She inhaled sharply.
Grarrr?
"Nothing."
Chewie didn't say anything. Most likely his thoughts were on Han too.
"I'm not sure what's worst," Leia complained just to break her train of thought, "freezing on Hoth or the constant heat from the double suns."
Chewbacca garrawfed.
"Of course you'd pick Hoth. You have a fur coat." She wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her arm. "I don't think I was ever able to warm get there."
Chewie harroofed.
"Yeah, it is a disadvantage having a fur coat on Tatooine." The princess stopped and looked up at her companion. "Being back on Tatooine….does it make you think of… when you—"
The Wookie grumbled.
"Han," Leia corrected herself, "decided to transport Luke and Obi Wan to Alderaan?"
He brayed and garooed.
Quietly, she asked, "Do you regret that day?"
Chewbacca patted her head with his bound hands and softly spoke to her.
"Transporting Luke, rescuing me, everything after…it all brought you and Han so much trouble."
The Wookie shook his head and rourffed as he stroked her hair.
"I wonder if Han regrets—"
Chewbacca cut her off with a firm guraw. Leia looked up at him and smiled. Then she turned her attention to the large palace that lay about a half mile away. Leia slipped on the helmet that would disguise her identity and took hold of the chain around Chewbacca's neck. They walked the half a mile in silence. Her heart beat hard against her chest and her stomach fluttered with chilicflies. Leia had to focus on their mission, but being this close to Han's location, it was hard not to think of him. If—when they freed Solo, would he be the same man she fell in love with? Could his feelings about her have changed? She almost couldn't breathe.
Chewie brayed.
"I'm fine," Leia lied. "The heat is making it hard to breathe."
It wasn't long before they reached the palace door. It was wide and tall and dwarfed the diminutive princess and the large Wookie. They stood there for a moment, taking in the sight. It was meant to exhibit Jabba's power and riches and intimidate his enemies. Leia couldn't say that it didn't work. She touched the permametal with her gloved hand, and the heat seeped through the thick material covering her hand. Leia bit her lip. This day had finally come, and she'd finally see Han again. And though she felt she was ready for it—she had been ready for the last six months—she couldn't deny the uneasiness in her chest. She had never seen Jabba, nor been in his palace as Chewbacca had, and she felt at a disadvantage. Chewie drew out a map from his memory in the sand, though his memory was almost four years old. He told her what to expect, but she had a feeling that it would be far worse than what the Wookie explained to her. According to Lando, Han was hanging in an antechamber off of the main audience chamber where Jabba lounged surrounded by lackeys and bounty hunters and anyone else that found entertaining. Leia, now completely disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, looked up at Chewbacca. He gave her a nod, and she wielded the Force pike that once belonged to the real Boushh. The princess slammed the pike against the permasteel. The TT-8l/Y7 sentient droid immediately popped out of a hole in the door, screeching and blinking his eye several times.
In Ubese, the language spoken by the original Boushh—her voice metallic and monotone—Princess Leia demanded that the droid open the huge door. When the TT-8L/Y7 refused, she held up the Force stick and prepared to slam it against the droid itself. The eye droid cursed the princess and retracted into the hole in the door from which he came. Leia exchanged a look with Chewie. She gritted her teeth and pulled back the Force staff, preparing to use all her might, but before she had to use it, the thick permametal door creaked as it rose up.
Leia and Chewbacca walked under the door and took a few steps inside. They glanced at the door that they just passed through. As it was lowered, it was as thick as a Goolupif. The door creaked and slammed shut, shaking the ground. Leia realized that the overly thick door not only deterred enemies but held out the heat. The palace was cool inside and would have been refreshing if it weren't for the foul stench that permeated through the rounded corridor.
As they walked deeper into the palace, they were met by four Gamorrean guards, their boar-like teeth dripping with saliva. The princess had to wonder if they ate any intruders that got past the security TT-8/Y7 droid. Leia prominently displayed the Force pike, and again, speaking Ubese, told the guards that she was her to collect a bounty on Han Solo's best friend, Chewbacca. She pulled on the chain around Chewie's neck to emphasize her intent. One guard stepped close in front of the princess, obviously to intimidate the small "bounty hunter", but she pulled out a small disc and held it in the palm of her hand. The other guards stepped back as she dropped it to the ground. Immediately Leia handed the Wookie a rag to cover his mouth and nose. The guards grabbed their necks and choked as they fell to the ground. The disc would not kill its intended targets, but they would be out long enough for Leia and Chewie to make it to the audience chamber.
It seemed odd that the rounded corridor was empty of other beings, and they made their way through the palace unimpeded. There were several lighted stairways that led to other parts of the palace that created a maze-like atmosphere. Chewbacca guided the princess through the corridors and stairwells. Leia concentrated on the route they took but was certain she'd never find her way out on her own. How would she get Han out of the palace if she couldn't remember the way? Han would have hibernation sickness, and she didn't know how bad it would be.
You only need to free Han from the carbonite, Luke had told her. Leave the rest to me.
Luke held her hand and gazed into her large brown eyes, as he softly spoke those words to her. He was a changed Luke, calm and patient that hinted at a confidence he had lacked in the past. He had visions now, premonitions, though he couldn't see the future, he told her.
Always in motion is the future, Luke had said to her, words she suspected were once spoken to him. He had told her about his first vision, the one where he saw Han and Leia in danger in a city of clouds. That that was how Luke was able to find them. But he couldn't see the disastrous outcome of his actions. Even Master Yoda couldn't foresee the future.
Leia had accepted Luke's premonitions, though she didn't quite understand how giving Chewie to Jabba would help them free Han. She feared what would happen to her friend, and Luke couldn't guarantee the Wookie would be okay. Still, she trusted Luke and went along with his plan.
Chewie announced that Jabba's audience chamber lay ahead down a shallow stairwell to the right, but Leia figured out that on her own based on the loud cheering voices. She heard a female scream and froze. She looked at Chewbacca, but he told her she didn't want to know what that was about. Then organ-like music, voices speaking various languages, and laughter filled the air. It sounded crowded and rowdy, and Leia's chilicflies started up in her stomach. Chewbacca goraggled and the princess pulled out her blaster and fired it into the air. The audience chamber fell quiet. Leia started down the stairs with Chewbacca's chain in her hand. A bounty hunter, Doyallyn decided to be the hero and confront this new threat. Chewbacca backhanded him, and Doyallyn rolled down the stairs and was knocked unconscious.
No other bounty hunter or being tried to stop Leia as she led Chewbacca into the room. With her head held high and her royal confidence in play, she ignored the thugs and bounty hunters as she walked Chewie into the audience chamber. The princess stopped in front of the villainous Jabba the Hutt. Hidden behind the rectangular tinted visor, Leia narrowed her large brown eyes on the grotesque warlord and clenched her jaw. She gave the Hutt a small bow and greeted him in Ubese. Leia then informed Jabba that she had come to collect the bounty on Chewbacca.
"Oh, no! Chewbacca!" Threepio exclaimed, catching Leia's attention.
Although his face was inanimate, she could see the droid's misery in his posture and heard his fear in his voice. Luke left the protocol droid in the dark about his plans because he didn't want the droid to fret. Leia's lips stretched into a small closed-mouth smile. Luke failed; she had never seen Threepio more nervous than he was now. Her merriment faded, and keeping her head facing Jabba, she shifted her eyes, searching for Artoo and Lando. Leia doubted that she'd recognize Lando; he would be in disguise too.
With Threepio acting as a translator, Leia and Jabba negotiated the price for Chewbacca. When Jabba refused her fifty-thousand credit bounty, the princess pulled out a thermal detonator and activated it. While his audience shrunk and gasped, Jabba responded to her with laughter. He was quite impressed with her tactics. He offered her thirty-five thousand, and Leia deactivated the thermal detonator. She stepped forward as Chewbacca was dragged away. It took every ounce of her will power not to watch him go.
Bib Fortuna approached her and offered her quarters in the palace for the night. The knot in her throat loosened, and Leia accepted his offer. Now she was free to look around. Her eyes fell on Boba Fett standing against the wall, and a heat traveled from her toes to her head. The bounty hunter nodded at her in approval, but she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge him.
Leia turned away from him and began to wander the room, stopping now and then to mingle with Jabba's lackeys and other bounty hunters. They all complimented her on her negotiations and said they'd never have the courage to pull something like that on Jabba. She kept her replies short as she took inventory of the nooks, crannies, and lay out of the room. She kept moving; her goal was to find the anti-chamber.
And then she saw him, Han Solo still frozen in carbonite and hanging on the wall in the far end of the room like a piece of art.
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The revelry had died down in the Jabba the Hutt's lair, and many of Jabba's audience had retreated to their quarters or succumbed to their drunkenness and intoxication, passing out where they were. Leia followed Bib Fortuna to her quarters for the night. Boba Fett stood in the hallway leaning against the wall. He acknowledged her again with a nod as he watched her pass by. A chill ran down her spine. Bib Fortuna opened the door to the room lent to her, and Leia took one last look at Boba Fett who then retreated into his quarters. Leia thanked her host, and after the door closed behind her she began to pace the room biding her time. She didn't like the way Fett was eyeing her the whole night as if he knew something was odd about her. Did he know Boushh before the Ubese bounty hunter died? Did he know Boushh had died? Could he see through her disguise? If Boba Fett had, he obviously didn't reveal his knowledge to Jabba the Hutt. Leia wouldn't have gotten as far as she did if the bounty hunter ratted her out.
Now was the hard part. It wasn't freeing Han from the carbonite; her determination overrode her misgivings. It was the waiting for the right time. She took her helmet off, stretched out her neck to rid herself of the kinks that pinched her, and rolled her shoulders. It was a relief to have the helmet off, even briefly. How long would she have to wait to be sure no one else was awake?
When she could wait no longer, Princess Leia once again donned Boushh's helmet, and poked her head out the door. She half expected to find Boba Fett in the hallway, but he was nowhere to be seen. She walked the corridor with hurried steps, keeping her large brown eyes open for other beings that might be awake, but the helmet she wore made it difficult because it blocked most of her peripheral vision. Leia would not have believed the bounty hunter that once wore this armor was as good as he was if she hadn't heard it from Chewbacca. The humanoid Ubese species had anatomical differences from humans, and perhaps the visor served the original Boushh well.
Sliding her hand along the wall for balance, Leia made her way down the steps that led to into the audience chamber. She stepped off the last step and the top of her helmet came in contact with a wind chime that unleashed a spell of tinkles.
Leia froze, waiting for someone to wake up, some to grab her and pull her away when she was now just meters from Han Solo. But no one came, and the only sound she heard was the quiet snoring of the lowlifes in Jabba's palace. Her confidence grew as she crossed the audience chamber to the antechamber, taking steady but hurried steps. Han was so close, yet it felt as if he was miles away. When she finally made it to the alcove where Solo hung like an ornament—Jabba would pay for this—Leia pressed her back to the wall next to the carbonite block, and once again, checked to see if someone had discovered her.
The princess expelled a sigh of relief when no one seemed to have woken up. Her heart sped up as she reached up and pressed the only button not lit up on the wall next to the carbonite block. It immediately glowed orange and the carbonite block that encased Han dropped off the wall with a loud clank that bounced off the walls of the antechamber. Leia caught her breath. That clank startled her; it had to have awakened those in the audience chamber.
Leia looked around, but to her surprise, no one stirred, and she heard no movement behind the curtains that separated her from Jabba the Hutt. She sighed then reached up to the control panel on the side of the carbonite block, twisted two knobs clockwise, and then took several steps back so that she was standing in front of the frozen form of Han. Leia held her breath waiting. Within seconds, the block came to life, emitting a whining whooshing noise. Someone had to hear that, but no one came to drag her away. A red light shot out of the melting areas of the carbonite, first revealing Han's face, the face she had long to see over the past six months. Han's mouth opened, and Leia's excitement and anticipation controlled her respiration as the rest of his body was revealed. Han Solo then curled into himself and fell face first to the floor without breaking his fall. He showed no sign of movement.
Leia froze; her heart now in her throat. Please be alive. You can't die now. Please….
The princess hurried over to him, leaned over Han, and listened for his breath. Nothing. After all this time… She lifted his upper body off the ground, and Solo's breath came. It was ragged and fell into rhythm with his shivering. Leia had to blink back more tears and hold back her urge to laugh in relief. Leia helped him to a seated position. He leaned against her outstretched leg and she held her arm around him, though he didn't need her support. He was wet and shaking but alive. Leia wanted nothing more than to pull him to her, hold him, comfort him, and never let him go.
But there was no time for that. Leia pushed Luke's plan of just freeing Han from the carbonite out of her mind. No, she was going to get Han out of Jabba's palace herself.
However, Han seemed too lost, confused, and weak to make a hasty escape. Although Two-One-B, the medical droid on Home One, had educated her on hibernation sickness, Leia hadn't taken that into consideration when she made her plan to escape with Han. Wanting to reassure Han that he was relatively safe now, Leia touched her helmet and was about to take it off, but she remembered Luke's warning:
Whatever you do, don't remove your disguise, especially your helmet. Keep yourself disguised. It'll save you.
In a metallic and monotone voice, Leia told Han, "Just relax for a moment. You're free of the carbonite."
Han raised his hand to his eyes and a look of panic was etched into his face. "I can't see," his voice sounded loud in the empty chamber.
"Shhh. You have hibernation sickness. Your eyesight will return in time."
"Where am I?"
"Jabba's palace."
Han's spine stiffened. The last he thing he remembered was Leia's fearful, sorrowful face, and the tears running down her cheeks, as he was lowered into the carbonite chamber in Cloud City on Bespin. How did he end up in Jabba's palace on Tatooine? And who was this being who freed him? It wasn't Boba Fett; Fett's voice was much lower and gravely, and Han figured it highly unlikely that the bounty hunter would do something kind for him. No, this person—most likely a bounty hunter—was someone else, someone he did not recognize. But why would a bounty hunter free him in Jabba's palace and risk Jabba's ruthless ire? Han reached up and felt the helmet of his savior. It was cold and unfamiliar to his hand.
"Who are you?"
Don't remove you helmet, Leia.
She could hear Luke's voice in her head. But Han was not going to trust her if she didn't, and she wanted to see Han not through the tinted visor of her helmet, but with her own eyes. She removed the helmet.
"Someone who loves you."
"Leia," Han expelled in a breath of relief and delight.
Unable to restrain herself any longer, Leia grabbed Han's face and ardently kissed him. She forced herself to break away from his lips.
"Come on," she helped him get to his feet. "I gotta get you out of here."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha."
"What's that?" Han asked, and he felt Leia stiffen. "I know that laugh."
Han began to bargain as two guards grabbed his arms, pulling him from Leia. All Leia could do was watch helplessly as the man she loved was taken from her once again.