Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you! Danke schön! Gracias!

Jedi training was interesting, to say the least.

Calvin was watching Luke practice deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber as a Jedi-in-training. The method Obi-Wan was employing was to use a tiny, floating, spherical droid called a seeker that was designed to shoot blaster bolts from time to time. They were duds; harmless versions of the real deal, but they still stung when they connected with skin.

Suddenly, the seeker droid zipped to the side and released a flash of ionized gas. Luke reacted quickly, and deflected it, sending it to the ground.

"Oh!-" Obi-Wan exclaimed, putting a hand to his stomach. Calvin whipped around along with Han, who had been witnessing the training alongside him.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, anxiety in his voice as he reached to turn off the seeker.

Kenobi took a seat on the couch, right by Chewbacca, Hobbes, and the droids, who had been playing a holographic chess-like game called Dejarik. He rested for a few moments before answering, and when he did, it sounded like he had just been punched in the gut.

"I feel a great disturbance in the force," he explained. "As- as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were instantly silenced." He looked at Luke, concern marring his weathered features, and remembered himself.

"You'd better get on with your exercises." He said.

The Soon-to-be Jedi nodded, and returned to his stance against the seeker droid.

Meanwhile, over at the table, Hobbes and Chewie (who had become fast friends with the help of 3po) resumed their game against 3po and R2.

"Now be careful, R2." 3po warned. "The tiger is very tricky."

Hobbes grinned.

R2, having decided what his move would be, used his mechanical arm to press a button on the side of the table. Immediately, one of the monster-like pieces on the board moved, eliminating the opposing piece and gaining a spectacular strategic position.

"Dang it!" Hobbes exclaimed.

Chewie started yelling in Wookie at the astromech, complaining.

"He made a fair move," 3po pointed out, moving to back up his companion. "Screaming about it won't help you."

"Let him have it," Han called over, grinning. "It's not wise to upset a Wookie."

"But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid." 3po pointed out.

Han smiled. "That's because droids don't pull people's arms out of their socket if they lose. Wookies are known to do that."

"...I see your point, sir," 3po agreed. "I suggest a new strategy, R2: Let the tiger and the wookie win."

Hobbes burst into laughter. "I'm beginning to like you more and more, Chewie!" he chuckled.

Smiling, Calvin turned back to witness Luke's training. Now that Obi-Wan appeared better, everything had resumed and Luke was once again defending against the seeker droid. He stood in the middle of the cargo hold (not the lounge, as Hobbes had thought), lightsaber at the ready.

As Calvin watched, the seeker attempted a feint, darting in close, but retreated when Luke did not react. It then zipped to the lift, spinning, and scored a hit on Luke's leg.

"Gah!" Luke exclaimed as he fell to one knee, and Han shook with concealed laughter. Calvin chuckled.

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid!" the smuggler declared, grinning.

Luke unsteadily got up and glared at Han. "You don't believe in the force, do you?" he asked.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other." Han told him. "I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything."

He waved his hands. "There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."

"I suggest you try it again, Luke," Obi-Wan interjected, and placed a helmet on the teen that was designed to cover his eyes.

"This time, let go of your conscious self and act on instinct," he advised.

Luke laughed. "With the blast shield down, I can't even see! How am I supposed to fight?" he argued.

"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them."

With the helmet, Calvin was sure that Luke would fall in record time. As he and the seeker took their respective positions, everyone at the table stopped to watch.

The droid feinted to the left, then darted to the right, shooting a small, red bolt that connected with Luke's abdomen.

"Ah!" he yelped, and Han chuckled again.

"Stretch out with your feelings." Obi Wan said, moving behind Luke and placing his hands on the teen's shoulders. As the seeker prepared to attack again, Calvin realized that Luke's shoulders had unwound, relaxing.

Then, to his surprise, the seeker flew in and fired twice, but Luke seemed to sense it coming. With lightning speed and no view at all, he deflected both bolts.

"Whoa!" Calvin exclaimed, amazed.

"You see?" Obi-Wan asked as Luke took off the helmet. "You can do it."

"I call it luck," Han remarked, still not convinced.

"In my experience there is no such thing as luck," Obi Wan defended.

Han sighed.

"Look," he argued. "Going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else."

"Beep, beep, beep!"

Han turned at the sound coming from the cargo hold's control console.

"Well," he started to say, "it looks like we're coming up on Alderaan. C'mon Chewie."

Han and Chewie soon disappeared from the room, and everyone (excluding R2 and 3po) followed suit.

"Hey, Calvin?" Hobbes asked.

"What's up, Hobbes?"

"When are you going to start making your Dimension Traveler™?

Calvin sighed. "Hobbes. I told you, I'll start on it when I can get some cardboard."

"No," Hobbes corrected. "When exactly? As soon as you get the cardboard? After you've found a marker? In a few days?"

"How about after we get Bluester to the Rebellion?"

"Alright," Hobbes agreed. "Thanks."

Inwardly, he wished that Calvin could make his machine out of wood or metal on Tatooine. He wanted to get home as soon as possible. But cardboard was always vital to Calvin's inventions, because it had a strong connection to something that he dubbed the Imagination Realm. According to Calvin, it was a realm that existed in every possible alternate universe, location, and time, and held those places together.

Kind of like the glue of the universe, Hobbes thought.

The presence of the imagination realm was more apparent and affected more subjects in certain locations and universes than in other ones. For example, the Bermuda triangle back on earth was where Calvin always flew to to access the realm because there it had a weak border between earth and itself.

Calvin had admitted before that he could create his machines out of metal or wood, but the energy output and the careful navigation skill needed for something like that was extremely high. So high, in fact, that Calvin had never wanted to test it out.

"Coming out of Hyperspace," Han announced as he pulled back on the main lever and reached up to disengage the hyperdrive.

The Millenium Falcon smoothly slid out of lightspeed, and was met… by an asteroid field.

"What the-" Han swerved to avoid a speeding space rock. "Aw, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower!" he realized. "Some kind of asteroid collision. It's not on any of the charts!"

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"Well," Han explained as best as he could. "Our position is correct, except- no Alderaan!"

"What do you mean, No Alderaan?" Calvin asked, confused. "I thought spaceships have epic technology so they don't get lost!"

"We're not lost. Alderaan should be right in front of us!"

Hobbes' brow furrowed in confusion. "So, where is it?" he inquired.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," the smuggler sighed. "It's been totally blown away. Alderaan is gone!"

Silence.

"Obi Wan, what happened here?" Hobbes asked, turning to the experienced Jedi.

For some time, Obi-Wan didn't say a word. And when he finally did, his voice was dark and grave.

"Alderaan has been destroyed… by the Empire!" he declared.

Han was skeptical. "The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet," he scoffed. "It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've-"

"Raargh!" Chewie growled, and pointed to a screen on the control console. Han leaned over from his Captain's chair to get a good view.

"There's another ship coming in," he realized.

"Maybe they know what happened," Luke suggested.

"It's an Imperial fighter," Obi-Wan announced.

A large explosion from the attacking spaceship rocked the Falcon, unrooting the unsecured passengers. Fortunately, the energy shields absorbed the blast.

Suddenly, the fighter pulled out in front of the Falcon, as if it were trying to get away, and Hobbes got his first good look at it.

It looked strange, kind of like a bowtie. It had a single, one-man spherical cockpit, and two hexagonal solar panels (at least they looked like solar panels) on each side.

"It must have followed us," Calvin decided.

"No, it's a short range fighter. It can't go into hyperspace." Obi-Wan disagreed.

"Well, there aren't any bases around here," Han muttered. "Where did it come from?"

The fighter unexpectedly turned, and raced past the Falcon, heading away.

"It sure is leaving in a big hurry," Luke remarked. "If they identify us, we're in big trouble."

"Well in that case, it's not going anywhere!" Calvin enthusiastically stated. "Right, Solo?"

"You betcha, kid! Chewie, jam it's transmissions!" Han ordered, and increased the Falcon's speed. Soon, they would be right on top of the fighter.

"It'd be best to let it go," Kenobi suggested. "It's too far out of range."

"Not for long," Han murmured, his eyes narrowing.

The Millenium Falcon flew towards the fighter, rapidly closing the gap between the two ships. Obi Wan slowly shook his head.

"A fighter that size couldn't get into deep space on its own," he frowned.

"It must have gotten lost," Luke surmised. "Maybe it was part of a convoy or… something."

"Yeah, well he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anyone about us," Han remarked wryly. And so the chase continued, with the fighter's destination becoming apparent soon enough.

"Look," Calvin said. "He's heading for that moon over there!"

"I think I can get him before he gets there," Han decided. "He's almost in range.

Suddenly, as the details of the moon became clearer, Obi-Wan realized what it was, too late. He turned to Han.

"That's no moon… it's a space station!"

Han shook his head. "It's too big to be a space station."

"No, wait!" Hobbes exclaimed. "He's right! I can see it!"

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Luke murmured.

Han's eyes narrowed, and then widened substantially. "Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, I think you're right.

He sprang into action. "Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power!"

Hobbes suddenly felt a slight change as the ship turned around, ready to escape in the other direction.

Suddenly, a shudder rumbled through the Falcon, making Calvin and Luke lose their footing.

"Wait," Hobbes realized, looking at the rear-view camera. "Why are we still moving towards the station?"

"We're caught in a tractor beam!" Han exclaimed. "It's pulling us in!"

"There's gotta be something you can do!" Luke blurted in a panic.

"Yeah!" Calvin agreed. "You're Han Solo! Awesomest smuggler that ever lived!"

Han sighed. "There's nothing I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power."

He reached up and opened a panel. "I'm going to have to shut down," he explained, flicking several switches, turning them from green to red. "But they're not going to get me without a fight!"

Obi Wan put a hand on his shoulder. "You can't win," Obi-Wan said, "but there are alternatives to fighting."

As Calvin and Hobbes watched, the ship was pulled into a sort of docking bay on a gray band running along the surface and separating the top and bottom halves of the battlestation. Kind of like an equator, Hobbes thought.

The ship eventually stopped inside of the docking bay, coming to a smooth halt on the floor. When Calvin looked out of the cockpit windows, he realized that they were being covered by a massive laser cannon attached to the ceiling, and several troopers were waiting to board them.

"What are we gonna do?!" he panicked.

Han sat in silence, thinking furiously.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed, and lurched out of his seat. "C'mon, everyone, this way!" he ordered, racing out of the cockpit.

Outside, several stormtroopers waited patiently as a mechanic spliced into the door controls. After several moments of tinkering, the door opened, and he stood to one side as the troopers slowly entered the ship.

Using scanners, lamps, and blasters, they methodically searched every part of the ship, but came out empty-handed.

"Hangar control," the trooper in charge of the boarding party reported, "this is TK four-one-two reporting in. There are no creatures on this ship."

He turned and motioned for his comrades to exit the Falcon.

After a few minutes, in the hallway leading from the cockpit to the storage bay, the floor of the ship creaked and several of the tiles opened up to reveal Obi Wan, Hobbes, Luke, Calvin, Han, Chewie, and the droids.

"Wheyew!" Calvin gasped. "It is super stuffy in here!"

"Boy, it's lucky that you had these compartments!" Luke remarked.

"I use them for smuggling," Han explained, and sighed. "I never thought I'd be smuggling myself."

He looked around, and turned to face Kenobi.

"This is ridiculous," he openly stated. "Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam!"

"Leave that to me!" Obi Wan assured him.

"Damn fool. I knew that you were going to say that."

"Who's the more foolish: The fool or the fool who follows him?" Obi Wan cryptically asked, smiling as if he wasn't trapped in a moon-sized hyperspace-capable battlestation with hundreds of thousands of stormtroopers ready to obliterate him.

Meanwhile, just outside, a two-man deep-scanning crew stood at the ready to conduct a second, more thorough search of the ship. Several stormtroopers were instructing them.

"The ship's all yours," the lead trooper was saying. "If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately."

The crewmen nodded, and turned to start their search, heading into the ship. The troopers took their positions on either side of the entrance, guarding it.

Perhaps one fourth of a minute later, a muffled crash was audible, and the troopers turned, curiously looking into the ship.

"Hey down there!" A muffled voice called out. "Could you give us a hand with this?"

The stormtroopers, rolling their eyes under their helmets, headed into the ship.

"Probably new recruits," one of them scoffed.

"Yeah," the other one agreed as he stooped to enter the storage bay. "A place this big needs a whole lot of people. I wouldn't be surprised if-"

The two troopers were suddenly attacked, as Chewie picked up the first one and slammed him into the wall. The second one found himself pounced on by an orange, savage whirl of ferocity, eliciting another, louder crash.

"Alright!" Calvin whooped.

"Hey!" Hobbes whispered, brushing himself off. "Keep it down!"

"Sorry," Calvin mumbled.

"Okay, guys!" Han whispered. "Let's work fast!"

After a few minutes, the deck officer in the elevated hangar control room noticed the absence of the two guards by the entrance, and pressed a button on his in-built commpad.

"TK four-one-two," he spoke into the mic. "Why aren't you at your post?"

Nothing happened.

"TK four-one-two! Do you copy? Come in!" he demanded.

Suddenly, a stormtrooper walked out of the ship. He looked up at the control room, and quickly tapped his helmet's transmitter. He finished by whirling his finger around to indicate that it was broken.

The officer understood immediately, and turned to his aide.

"Take over," he ordered. "We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do."

"Yessir!" the young aide crisply acknowledged.

The officer turned to walk out of the room, stopping to press the door's activation button. But when the door slid open, he was met with blaster fire.

"Rrroooaaarrr!" Chewie growled, and shoved the officer's corpse aside, now riddled with smoking blaster bolts.

The aide reached for his gun, but he was too slow as Calvin and Chewie unloaded their weapons into him.

Once everyone was in, Calvin closed and locked the door. Behind him, Han and Luke took off their stormtrooper disguises, stolen from the now-unconscious guards.

"Oh yeah!" the boy exclaimed. "We're in the system now!"

He looked around. "Where are those controls for that hangar gun?"

"You know," Luke sarcastically remarked. "With all this yelling and blasting everything in sight, It's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here!"

"Bring em' on!" Han declared boldly. "I prefer a straight fight to all of this sneakin' around!"

"We've found the computer outlet, sir," 3po reported behind him.

"Plug R2 in. He should be able to interpret the entire Imperial computer network." Obi Wan said. As Calvin watched, R2 extended a robotic arm and connected it with the socket in the wall.

For a few seconds, everyone waited as the astromech's mechanical arm whirred and turned. Then, R2 uttered a triumphant series of beeps and whistles.

"He says he's found the main computer to power the tractor beam that's holding the ship here," 3po translated. "He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor."

More beeps and whistles.

"The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations," the protocol droid explained. "A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave."

Obi Wan looked at the location, and smiled.

"Excellent! I will head to the location and turn it off," he announced. "But I shall need your help, Hobbes. Come with me."

Hobbes was shocked. "Me?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. Judging from what I've seen and from what you've boasted to be, you have the best agility and climbing skills out of all of us," he explained.

Seeing that his dignity might be on the line, Hobbes decided to agree. "Uhh… Sure! I would love to help you out, Kenobi!"

"Can I come too?" Calvin asked. But Obi Wan had a different idea.

"No. You, Han, and Luke must watch over and protect these droids," he ordered. "If R2 doesn't find his way to the Rebellion, then other planets will suffer the same fate as Alderaan; reduced to a simple debris field by this menacing behemoth."

"Wait," Calvin interrupted. "Are you saying that this thing was what destroyed Alderaan?"

"Well, yeah, kid!" Han answered. "Didn't you see the giant laser when we were approaching the station?"

"No," Calvin responded bluntly.

Suddenly, he better understood the importance of the task he was given.

"Um, yeah! Don't you worry, Obi Wan. We'll protect them with our lives!" he promised.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Remember, Luke, Calvin, Han, Chewie," he started to say. "The force will be with you, always."

"I'll be back, Calvin!" Hobbes promised.

And just like that, he and Hobbes exited the room.

After a few seconds of silence, Chewie broke it when the Wookie growled and barked a comment.

Han snorted. "Boy, you said it, Chewie," he replied, and shifted to address Luke.

"So where did you dig up that old fossil?" he snarkily asked.

"Ben is a great man!" Luke defended his mentor.

"Yeah," the smuggler scoffed. "Great at getting us into trouble."

"Hey! I didn't hear you recommend anything!" Calvin shot back.

"Well," Han began to respond. "Anything would be better than just hanging around waiting for him to pick us up-"

Suddenly, R2 beeped and whirred for joy .

"What is it?" Luke asked, momentarily disregarding the argument.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir," 3po replied. "He said, 'I found her', and keeps repeating, 'She's here.'

Everyone was all ears. "Well…Who did he find?" Calvin asked.

R2 whistled and beeped a response.

"Princess Leia," 3po said.

Silence.

"...Wait, what now?!" Calvin asked, incredulous. "The girl from the message recorded in Bluey? That girl?"

"Yes," 3po affirmed. "Level five. Detention block A-A Twenty-three."

He stopped as R2 beeped something else, and looked back up. "I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated!"

"Oh, no!" Luke exclaimed. "We've got to do something!"

"What are you talking about?" Han demanded.

"This droid belongs to her. She's the one in the message- we've got to help her!" he blurted out frantically.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, now!" Han held out his hands, moving to block the exit door.

"Now, look, don't get any funny ideas," he warned, pointing a finger. "The old man wants us to wait right here."

"But he didn't know she was here!" Luke protested. "Look, will you just find a way back into the detention block?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Han declared.

"And me neither!" Calvin added, crossing his arms. "I've got to protect these droids, or this ball of metal is gonna kill another few billion people."

"But they're going to execute her!" Luke protested. "Look, a few minutes ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured. Now all you want to do is stay!" he argued.

"Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind!" Han countered.

"But they're going to kill her!" Luke pleaded.

"Better her than me!" Han shouted, his patience gone.

Then, Luke had a flash of inspiration.

"She's rich," he casually remarked.

"Rich?" Han asked, slowly turning around.

Seeing that he was hooked, Luke pressed his advantage.

"Yes! Rich, powerful! Listen," he stammered, "if you were to rescue her, the reward would be…" Luke stopped and thought.

"What?" both Han and Calvin asked.

"Well… more wealth than you could imagine!" he boasted.

Off to the side, Chewie barked a comment. Han looked over, nodded, and looked back.

"I don't know," he said. "I could imagine quite a bit!"

"You'll get it!" Luke promised.

"I'd better!"

"You will!" he assured the smuggler.

Meanwhile, Calvin was also drawn in by the promise of unlimited credits, but remembered two things:

One, he dictated a girl hating club.

Two, he had promised Obi Wan that he'd keep the droids safe. He couldn't leave them alone.

"Well, you guys can go, but I have a promise to keep." Calvin reminded them.

Han looked at Chewie, who gave a short grunt and shrugged.

"Alright then," he looked at Luke. "What's your plan?"

Luke stuttered, looking around the room. "Uh... um, oh!" he exclaimed.

"3po, hand me those binders there will you?" he asked. After acquiring the electric handcuffs, he approached Chewie.

"Um, okay," he took a deep breath. "Now, I'm going to put these on you-" Suddenly, Chewie let out a hideous growl, complaining and backing away.

"Uhh… Okay," Luke decided, sheepish. "Han, you put these on."

Han took the handcuffs with an amused face. "Don't worry, Chewie," he assured the nine-foot tall Wookie as he put on the binders "I think I know what he has in mind."

"Master Luke, sir!" 3po interrupted, realizing that Han, Chewie and him were going. "Pardon me for asking, but… what should R2 and I do if we're discovered here?" he asked.

"Get your butts saved by me!" Calvin answered. "Duh!"

"And hope that they don't have blasters." Han added, and put his stormtrooper helmet on. Soon, Han and Luke were out of sight, pretending to escort their Wookie 'prisoner' to the detention block.

"That first part isn't very reassuring." 3po mumbled as the door closed and locked shut.

"Hey!" Calvin yelled, hurt.

:D