Hello, everyone! This chapter is a bit shorter, mostly because the time that I had for writing yesterday was taken up by a visit to the movie theater to see John Wick 4. But don't worry! Next chapter will be longer. I'm also focusing a lot more on this story instead of my others, so the next upload should be soon.
Anyways, enjoy!
Han knelt down by the control box in the cargo hold, where 3po was working to communicate with the ship. The humanoid droid whisted and beeped in a similar manner to R2, and the ship replied through the control box, sending back a few mystifying, electronic warbles.
"Oh, where is R2 when I need him?" he sighed, and turned to address Han. "Sir, I don't know where your ship learned to communicate, but it has the most peculiar dialect. I believe, sir, it says that the power coupling on the negative axis has been polarized. I'm afraid you'll have to replace it."
Han scoffed. "Well, of course I'll have to replace it!"
As 3po went back to work, Han stood up and handed a wire coil to Chewie, who was working near the ceiling. "Here!" he said, as the wookie bent down and took the coil. "And Chewie… I think that we had better replace the negative power coupling."
Chewie nodded discreetly, just as the door to the cargo hold opened.
"Guys! Guys!" Calvin shouted as he burst inside. Han, Leia, Chewie and 3po looked up from their attempts to fix the Hyperdrive at the interruption.
"What's up, kid?" Han asked.
For the next couple minutes, all of them listened to Calvin as he spoke, explaining to them about the dream that he had had. They watched as he talked about how he had seen Darth Vader and his evil master, the Galactic Emperor Palpatine, both of them discussing how they were planning to turn Luke to the dark side of the force. And apparently, a trap was being set for him and Hobbes which depended on the capture of the Falcon. He didn't include the part about the DART, though.
"We've gotta warn Luke about this trap!" Calvin urged. "If they get him over to the dark side, then-"
"Kid," Han interrupted, "the chances that Luke would become a turncoat are as low as you becoming the new Galactic Emperor. That dream was probably just your mind unnerved from all of the action that's been happening. Don't worry!"
"But, c'mon! I live for action and adventure!" Calvin argued. "And I feel like if I get an ominous dream, I should heed it, what with all these force powers floating around, right?"
His rebuttal caused a thoughtful crease to form on Han's forehead. But it was Leia who spoke next.
"Listen, Calvin," she said. "Even if what you say is true, it just means that to stop Luke from getting caught in this trap, we'll have to make sure that we don't get caught, right?"
"Well, yeah, you're right, but…" Calvin trailed off. He didn't want to tell the group about how Vader and the Emperor knew about the DART, because that might require telling them about it's true capabilities. He'd rather that this universe didn't know about the fact that they could use this machine to hop between worlds.
"But what?" Han asked. "Kid, we're gonna be fine, alright? We'll repair the Hyperdrive, get out of this place, and join up with the fleet as planned, yeah?"
"Yeah, alright," Calvin nodded.
"Well, as long as you're up, help us out with fixin' up the Falcon," Han said, before Chewie came up to Calvin, his arms full of engine parts.
"Grawwr! Grrlgh! Brraagh!" Chewie growled.
"Uh, what's he saying?" Calvin asked.
"Take those parts and put 'em in the smuggling compartments," Han translated for him. The next second, Chewie deposited the metal load into Calvin's arms.
"Oof!" he wheezed, trying to keep himself from falling down. "Jeez, Bongo the Strongo! Be gentler next time so that'cha don't crush my arms!"
Chewie barked an annoyed reply, and turned to help Han, who had climbed back down the Hyperdrive's access hatch. Leia, meanwhile, went back to welding several valves that had overheated earlier. Calvin set off at a snail's pace towards the smuggling compartments in the hallway, and, skillfully sliding the floor panel off of one with his foot to open it, dumped the entirety of his load inside without a second thought.
"I hope nobody wanted me to sort this junk," he mumbled, and before heading back to the cargo hold, walked to the onboard pantry to get himself some breakfast in the form of a ration bar. For a few minutes, he chewed and swallowed it before walking back.
As he approached the cargo hold's entrance, he heard two voices inside- Han and Leia's, and was about to go in when Han said, "You're trembling."
Huh? Calvin wondered.
"I'm not trembling," Leia denied it.
"You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
Wait, Leia likes him?! Calvin's mind screeched. His eyes widened, as continued to listen.
"I happen to like nice men," Leia replied, a trembling tremor in her voice.
"I'm a nice man," Han said.
"No you're not, you're-"
The next second, Leia's voice was cut off by a surprised, sharp inhale, and Calvin's mind threatened to snap as he thought about the disgusting lovey dovey thing that was happening five feet away. He couldn't see it, since he didn't want to look. But he didn't need to.
And to think that he was gonna invite Han into G.R.O.S.S! Let a traitor to the cause into their ranks! Even Han, that independent, awesome space pirate hadn't lasted. Ugh. Kisses were the worst.
Please, lord, someone make a distraction to break this whole thing up, he pleaded, gagging slightly.
Suddenly, 3po clunked past him straight into the room, shouting, "Sir! Sir! I've isolated the reverse power flux coupling!"
For a few seconds, nothing happened, before Han's icy voice went, "Thank you. Thank you very much."
"Oh, you're perfectly welcome, sir!" 3po cheerily said. The next second, as Calvin went to walk inside the room, Han trudged out, his moment ruined. Leia followed him, and she definitely didn't look much happier.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Calvin's head, and he yelled, "Hey, 3po!"
The droid spun around. "Yes, Calvin?"
"Well," Calvin began. "I would like to give you an invitation."
"An invitation? To what?" 3po asked.
"To G.R.O.S.S!" Calvin cheered, sticking Han's membership badge onto 3po's chest. "For proving yourself as a true, valiant warrior in the struggle to Get Rid Of Slimy girlS, I commend you and grant you access to all of G.R.O.S.S's resources! Welcome to the club, Commander C-3po!"
"What?" 3po asked.
"You just keep doin' your duty, soldier!" Calvin grinned, happy, and exited the room, leaving 3po quite confused.
"What?" he asked again.
Meanwhile, far, far away on Dagobah, a steady rainfall was pouring down on the swampy forest, dripping off of leaves and running along the undersides of drenched vines in streams. In a small clearing, hundreds of thousands of drops splashed into the ponds surrounding a small hut made out of solid, dry mud.
The dwelling was small, its entrance so tiny that a person would have to crawl to get it. Warm, yellow light flickered in the windows, and its ceiling was dome-like in shape.
It's really nice, if a little cramped, Hobbes thought to himself as he looked out of one of the windows from his spot in the tiny hut. He couldn't stand up all the way, so he had to sit cross-legged on the floor. Luke sat as well, a few feet away from him. He didn't look too happy. In fact, he looked bored.
Suddenly, Hobbes looked back to see two, small, green hands place a bowl in his paws, containing a rich stew cooked up by their host. Hobbes thanked the green-skinned creature and continued to sit in thought.
After Luke had crashed in a nearby lake, the strange creature had found him and seemed to be a bit of a nuisance. Just a little over two feet tall, he had two pointy ears, wore old, bedraggled robes, and used a walking stick to get around.
At first, Luke didn't think much of him, and wished for him to go away. But when he mentioned that he was trying to find Yoda, the creature became very interested. It turned out that he knew Yoda personally, and was going to lead him and Hobbes to the Jedi Master soon.
Of course, it had been a whole day, and they didn't seem any closer.
"Eat your meal, you do not," the creature said with an old, high-pitched, gravelly voice.
"Sorry. I've just got a lot of things on my mind," Hobbes said.
"Think well, one cannot, if eat well, one cannot," the creature told him with a kind smile. "Eat."
Reluctantly, Hobbes tried the stew, and immediately found himself enjoying it. The taste was full of flavor; a mixture of native vegetables, bits of food borrowed from Luke's rations, and meat from the creature that Hobbes had killed in combat earlier today.
According to Luke, the cat-like being was a Nexu- a creature that had been prowling around the area where this alien lived for quite some time.
"Wow!" he said aloud. "This stew is delicious. Thank you for making it."
"Welcome, you are," the alien smiled at the praise.
Hobbes dug in, enjoying each bite and marveling at the taste all the while. He drank the rest of the broth, and finished by draining his water canteen.
"Look, It's very delicious," Luke acknowledged nearby, impatient. "I just don't understand why we can't see Yoda now?"
"Patience!" the alien exclaimed. "For the Jedi it is time to eat as well. Eat, eat. Good food, hm? Eat. Eat."
"Luke, if Yoda's not here, then we should wait until the rain stops," Hobbes advised him. "Too bad R2 couldn't come inside with us. He's probably shivering out there."
"He'll be fine," Luke assured him, and turned back towards the hospitable alien. "But how far away is Yoda? Will it take us long to get there?"
"Not far. Yoda not far. Patience. Soon you will be with him." The creature promised. "Rootleaf. Eat. Why do you wish to become Jedi? Hm?"
"Mostly because of my father, I guess," Luke said.
"Ah, your father. Powerful jedi was he, powerful jedi, hm."
"Oh, come on. How could you know my father?" Luke asked. "You don't even know who I am."
He groaned, fed up. "Oh, I don't know what I'm doing here! We're wasting our time, Hobbes."
Hobbes frowned at Luke's impatience to see Yoda. Of course, he himself couldn't wait to meet the Jedi Master. But they could afford to wait for a little while, right? He found himself slightly annoyed at Luke's blatant eagerness.
"I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience," a voice suddenly said. Looking over with surprise at the words, Hobbes saw the alien creature with his back turned, shaking his head lightly. Luke had whipped around at the comment as well, and both of them were now very intrigued.
"Hmmm. Much anger in him, like his father," the alien continued, his eyes closed. Hobbes was perplexed, but Luke seemed to realize something… or see something."
"Hah!" the alien scoffed, seemingly talking to someone. "He is not ready."
"Yoda!" Luke blurted out. "I- I am ready! I… Ben! I can be a Jedi! Ben, tell him I'm ready!"
And just like that, all of the pieces came together. This tiny creature, living out here in the swamp… was Yoda! And Ben… Ben Kenobi- Obi Wan Kenobi!
Yoda was conversing with the ghost of Obi Wan!
"Ready, are you?" Yoda asked, unconvinced. "What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained!"
"But-" Luke tried to say. Yoda stopped him. "A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind."
He turned and closed his eyes to talk to Obi Wan. "This one, a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was, hmm? On what he was doing. Hmph!"
"Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things." He turned to Luke. "You are reckless!"
Luke sighed. He and Hobbes both knew that it was true. For all the time that Hobbes had known him, Luke had had an adventurous spirit- a yearning to see the galaxy, to fight! To explore.
"He is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training," Yoda argued.
"But I've learned so much!" Luke promised.
Yoda turned another piercing gaze on the used-to-be farmboy. After a while, he sighed, and turned back. "Will he finish what he begins?"
"Luke is the one of the most dedicated people I know," Hobbes cut in. "He'll finish it. I know he will."
"I won't fail you. I'm not afraid," Luke declared.
Yoda looked back at Luke, and smiled. "Oh, you will be. You will be."
:D