Whoo! This chapter was pretty difficult to write. But I did it!
By the way, I revised this chapter because I didn't like the ending too much, so just FYI. Also, a few parts of this chapter aren't going to match up exactly with the movie, so... just letting you guys know.
Anyways, read on!
In the dark gloom of Zarconian Dungeon, the expert explorer extraordinaire Spaceman Spiff awaits his demise at the hands- or rather, tentacles- of the ghoulish aliens that forced him to land!
Wanting knowledge of the blueprints to the 5D Warp Drive, the aliens have used countless pain-inflicting devices to try and squeeze the details out of the famed space navigator's mind! But despite the Zarconians' torture methods being formidable, Spiff hasn't broken a sweat!
Until now, that is.
"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"
"Oh. My. GOD!" Calvin yelled, desperately covering his ears to drown the high-pitched whistling out. " My eardrums are rupturing! Make it stop!"
On the opposite side of the cell, Chewie wasn't faring much better, using both of his shaggy paws to cover his own ears as he searched for whatever was causing the noise. Most likely a leaking pressurized pipe, but Calvin wouldn't have been surprised if this was the empire's doing. With a miserable wail, the Wookie unplugged his ears and slammed his arms against the prison cell's metal wall.
The whistling stopped.
"Finally!" Calvin sighed, and slumped down on the bench. The sudden stillness of the cell made him want to cry for joy- if not for the fact that they would most likely die soon.
It had been several hours since their sudden ambush and capture at the hands of Vader and Boba Fett, and not a lot had happened. A squadron of stormtroopers had 'escorted' him, Han, Leia, Chewie, and 3po's parts to the prison cell that they were now in. After that, it hadn't been long before two troopers came in and dragged out Han and Leia for interrogation.
Drumming his fingers incessantly on his knees, Calvin looked around for something to do. He wasn't good with silence… at least not for long periods of time. It was then that he spied Chewie sitting on the floor, trying to assemble 3po's parts.
"Huh," he said, and walked over to the Wookie. "Hey, Chew 'bacco."
A distracted growl of greeting.
Shifting his feet for a few seconds, Calvin decided to sit down and help put 3po back together. Reaching for the disconnected pieces of wiring and gears, his fingers flew as they attached parts together, bit by bit.
A half-hour later, Calvin's tinkerer's hands had helped rehash 3po's head's internal systems. Working carefully, he and Chewie reconnected the jumbled bundle of central cables that joined the head to the rest of the body. Carefully repairing the last one, Calvin leapt back in surprise as 3po's eyes flashed on and the head and torso began moving erratically.
"Mmmm. Oh, my," 3po's voice said. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I... I didn't mean to intrude. No, no, please don't get up. No!"
The eyes faded again and the droid went silent.
"Wow," Calvin snorted. "The first thing to come out of his mouth is unintelligible gibberish. How surprising."
Chewie cracked up for the first time in a while, laughing at the sarcastic comment which made Calvin feel good. Turning his attention back to the wiring, he tried to figure out what had happened.
"Alright. Well, it looks like we somehow accessed 3po's memory storage unit," he said, and unclicked a few cables. "Probably the last thing to go through his mind before he got disassembled."
Growling, Chewie reached for the tiny access panel to 3po's head and opened it, having gotten an idea. Confused, Calvin watched as he used a pair of delicate tweezers to twist and prod at the mechanism inside. Once he was satisfied, he closed the panel, and flicked the power switch on the back of his head off and on.
3po came to life again, immediately looking around with confusion before remembering the last thing that he had seen. "Stormtroopers? Here? We're in danger. I must tell the others," he declared.
He then looked down. "Oh, no! I've been shot!"
"Get a hold of yourself, annoy boy!" Calvin chided.
3po turned his head to see who had spoken to him. "Calvin! Chewbacca! Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to see you!"
"Likewise," Calvin grumbled. "Now hold still. We're try'na put the rest of you back together, too.
For another half-hour, Chewie and Calvin worked together to connect more and more of 3po, attaching a whole arm to one of the empty sockets. Unfortunately, he did not stay still or quiet, becoming fed up with the poking and constant errors committed by the two of them. "Oh, yes, that's very good. I like that. Oh! Something's not right because now I can't see! Wait…wait! Oh, my, what have you done? I'm backwards, you stupid furball. Only an overgrown mophead and an ignorant child like you would be stupid enough to-"
"Oh, shut it," Calvin grumbled, and flicked the power switch on the back of 3po's head off again.
The sudden whoosh of the prison cell door sliding open made the two of them jump, and they looked behind them to see Han thrown in by a Cloud City guard, his hair a matted mess and dark circles under his eyes. Behind him, Leia was shoved in, her features weary. Kneeling beside Han, she examined him as Chewie and Calvin ran up to meet them.
"Are you guys alright?" Calvin asked Leia. "Jeez, Han. You look terrible."
"I feel terrible," Han agreed, the words slurred.
"Why are they doing this?" Leia asked, grimacing at the state the smuggler was in.
"They never even asked me any questions," he rasped, and coughed, a fleck of blood landing on Leia's white suit. His hands were trembling, and Calvin could see a few of his veins throbbing unnaturally.
Everyone whirled at the sound of footsteps coming from the door, and Calvin literally snarled at seeing Lando walk in, flanked by two guards, that infuriating cape of his draped on his back.
"Lando," Leia said with a boiling fury visible just under her mask of calm.
"Turncoat!" Calvin spat, trying to get close enough to throttle Lando. Unfortunately for him, Chewie held him back. "You no-account double-crossing varmint!"
"Get out of here, Lando," Han growled.
"Shut up and listen!" Lando shouted, his expression switching from guilt to defeat to anger and back around to guilt again. "Vader has agreed to turn Leia, Calvin and Chewie over to me."
"Over to you?" Han asked, confused.
Lando nodded. "They'll have to stay here, but at least they'll be safe."
"What about Han?" Leia asked.
"Vader's giving him to the bounty hunter, Boba Fett."
"Vader wants us all dead," Leia disagreed, but Lando shook his head.
"No…" Calvin realized aloud, remembering his dream on the Falcon. "This wasn't about killing us. Vader wants Luke and Hobbes!"
"What?" Leia asked.
"Calvin's right," Lando revealed. "He's after Skywalker and 'his friend,' a feline person that must be who you're referring to. Lord Vader has set a trap for him."
"...And we're the bait," Leia murmured, understanding dawning within her.
Calvin's pupils enlarged as he realized that if Hobbes came to rescue them with Luke, the empire would stop at nothing to get the whereabouts of the DART… which meant torture and most definitely death.
Both his and Han's knuckles tightened.
"Perfect. You fixed us all pretty good, didn't you?" Han snarled. "My FRIEND!"
"AAARRGH!" Calvin yelled, and both of them threw themselves at Lando. Han hauled off and sent Lando stumbling with a powerful right hook as Calvin pounced on his back, scraping and digging his nails into the businessman's blue shirt. Blood erupted from the scratches. Suddenly, a set of hands ripped Calvin off of Lando and a metal object rammed into his nose, sending him to the ground. About to get back up, he stopped at seeing the barrel of a blaster pointed straight at him. Beside him, the second guard was doing the same to Han. Blood trickled from his nostrils.
"Raaagh!" Chewie rumbled, moving to defend them, but the guards instead pointed their blasters at the Wookie instead, ready to fire.
"Stop!" Lando coughed, holding his bleeding nose with one hand and his mutilated back with the other. "I've done all I can," he wheezed. "I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but I have my own problems."
"Yeah," Han muttered, spent. "You're a real hero." He remarked, his voice dripping with disdain.
"Idiot!" Calvin shouted, breathing and sweating heavily as Lando began to walk out. "Vader's not gonna keep whatever deal he made with you."
The door hissed shut, and both Smuggler and Boy dropped down to the grated floor. Leia worked swiftly, pulling out a cloth and applying it to their wounds. As she dabbed away the blood, she remarked, "You both certainly have a way with people."
Calvin just groaned.
Several minutes later, Lando was standing in Cloud City's carbon freezing chamber- a dimly-lit room with stairs leading to a platform at the center where freezing carbon steam drifted out. Off to the side walked Darth Vader, assessing the facility for its use in transporting Luke Skywalker safely. Apparently Skywalker, whoever he was, was very powerful and very dangerous if the Dark lord himself wanted him frozen in carbonite.
His mind was whirling with anger, fear, and guilt at everything that was happening. If it were any other group of people, people he could forget, he might have felt elated at the promise of the looming Imperial threat gone for good. But he couldn't feel an ounce of joy at all. Not after seeing Han and Leia's spiteful faces. And definitely not after feeling the pain from Calvin's nails raking his skin. Calvin, who barely a few hours ago had been laughing as he bantered with him over a game of Sabacc.
He reminded Lando of his younger self. And now he'd hate him for life.
"This facility is crude," the cyborg's voice came from in front of him, "but it should be adequate to freeze Skywalker for his journey to the Emperor."
Before Lando could say anything about the dangers in freezing a literal person in carbonite, an imperial soldier appeared in front of them. "Lord Vader, two ships approaching. X-wing and Y-wing class," he reported.
"...Good," Vader said. "Monitor Skywalker and the Y-wing and allow them to land."
The stormtrooper saluted and walked off, leaving Lando confused.
"Lord Vader," he swallowed, "we only use this facility for Carbon freezing. If you put them in there, it might kill them."
For a few seconds, Vader was silent, thinking.
"I do not want the Emperor's prizes damaged," he said at last. "We will test it... on Captain Solo and the child with him."
A sudden pang went through Lando's heart as he turned away. Why had he said that? Why had he said that? Now Calvin and Han were going to die!
"Hey, Luke," Hobbes asked through his commlink, staring at the orange, vivid gas giant in front of them. It shifted and swirled constantly in a lovely, hypnotic rhythm.
"Yeah, Hobbes?" came the reply from the X-wing flying beside him. Both of them had been mostly quiet during the jump from Dagobah to the Anoat system, thoughts and worries gathering at the edges of their minds. Now, one of them had raised its voice loud enough to provoke a question.
"Do we have a plan?" he asked.
"For finding everyone, or for getting out alive?"
"How 'bout both?
"Well, from what I can gather, Cloud City hasn't been under the jurisdiction of the Empire for a while," Luke said. "If they don't know who we are, we can land unharmed and search the detention cells first."
For a while, both of them were quiet.
"You know that this whole thing is probably a trap, right?" Hobbes asked him.
"Probably."
"Yoda said that you weren't ready to face Vader- what if he's here?"
Luke went quiet again. Then he said, "Well, it doesn't look like I have a choice anymore. We're here, our friends are down there, and I'm not going to leave them. Will you?"
"Never!" Hobbes huffed.
"Alright," Luke said. "Follow me, we're entering the atmosphere. I can guide us to the city."
"Ten-Four," Hobbes confirmed, and pushed the accelerator forward, finding strength in Luke's words. He wasn't gonna turn tail and run. He had a mission, and he was bringing Calvin to safety… provided he wasn't dead yet.
Together, the two ships rocketed towards the gas giant's atmosphere.
Back in Cloud City's deep, dark underbelly, the Carbon freezing chamber was bustling with hurried activity. Ugnaughts rushed to and fro, preparing the chamber for use as cloud city officials ordered them around. Stormtroopers ringed the circular room, standing crisply at attention. At the control panel stood Vader, overseeing the preparations, Lando beside him.
Finally, the last adjustments were complete. The group of ugnaughts scurried out, glad to rid of the dark lord's presence. Watching them leave, Lando wished that he were one of them right now. Simply being near Vader sent fear through him.
Suddenly, the door opened again, and Boba Fett stepped in, cradling a powerful grenade launcher. Behind him, several armed stormtroopers escorted Han, Leia, Calvin, and Chewie, 3po's parts strapped to his back.
"If only you had attached my legs, I wouldn't be in this ridiculous position," 3po was barating the wookie. "Now, remember, Chewbacca, you have a responsibility to me, so don't do anything foolish, you overgrown mophead!"
"What's going on, buddy?" Han hissed the question at Lando, who had come over to stand beside the group. He looked sullen. Helpless. Still looking forward, he replied, "You and Calvin are being put into carbon freeze."
"What?!" Calvin yelled, attracting the room's attention. In response, one of the troopers smacked him with the blunt end of a blaster rifle.
"Ow! Don't hit me, dingus!" he exclaimed.
"Quiet!" the trooper ordered. Calvin grumbled, but stayed silent.
"What if Han Solo doesn't survive?" Boba Fett asked Vader, walking up to him. "He's worth a lot to me."
Vader turned to look at him with an air of disgust. "The Empire will compensate you if he dies." He told the jetpack wielding mercenary. "Put him in!"
Chewie, realizing what was about to happen, growled and tried to attack the stormtroopers around Han. Desperate, he grabbed one and threw him to the ground, before his compatriots descended upon him, clubbing him with their blasters while several others pointed their weapons at him.
"Oh, no! No, no, no! Stop, Chewbacca, stop!" 3po babbled, scared witless. The troopers did not relent, and moved to bash the wookie in the face.
"Stop, Chewie, stop!" Han shouted. "Do you hear me? Stop!"
"Yes, stop, please! I'm not ready to die!" 3po wailed. If not for the emotions racing through his head, Calvin would have rolled his eyes at the display of cowardice. But he had too much on his mind. At the forefront, Hobbes. He might never see his best friend ever again, and the thought of him and his own imminent freeze appointment weighed down on his mind. And they would never get home, now.
Unless, he realized, Unless he goes back by himself.
Han had stopped Chewie from resisting the inevitable, and was now talking to Leia, saying his goodbyes. For once, Calvin didn't interfere… they could have their moment. But he could still do something.
"Chewbacca," he said. The Wookie turned around, his brown face wet with tears. "Can you do something for me?"
The Wookie nodded.
"If you ever see Hobbes, give him a warning. Tell him that the Empire knows about the machine... and that he has it. He'll know what I'm talking about. Tell him to keep himself safe. Tell him that- that all the machine needs is Coaxium, if he got the crystal, and that he'll be able to get home... you got all that?"
The Wookie nodded.
"And tell him that I'm sorry," Calvin told him, blinking away tears. "Tell him that the DART just needs power. Tell him not to wait up for me. Tell him…"
He broke off for a moment, feeling hot, salty tears flow down his face like a river.
Finding the strength to go on, he said, "Tell him that he was the only thing in the entire world that I ever needed to make my life worth it."
Chewie nodded, and reached out to wrap Calvin in a bear hug. Calvin clung on to him tightly, reluctant to let go.
"Goodbye, Calvin," 3po's voice came from the back of Chewie.
"See 'ya, C-3po," Calvin grinned through his tears. They had been so close… so close to making it. At least Leia, 3po, and Chewie would be safe. Looking over at her and Han, he saw them exchanging a final, passionate kiss, before Han released her and stepped on the platform in the middle of the room.
"Come on," a trooper grabbed his arm. He wrenched free, gave the trooper a look of hatred, and walked up the stairs himself.
"I love you," Leia called out to Han as Calvin joined him on the platform.
"I know," Han said, and looked at Calvin with a smile. Giving his hand a squeeze, the smuggler released it and faced forward.
Doing the same, Calvin felt fear running through him. He'd probably die now, his nerves breaking apart as the terrible cold stopped his entire body. Fighting the urge to hyperventilate, he instead focused his energy and turned to look at Lando. The platform that he was on began lowering. They were only a few seconds away, now.
Waiting until Lando noticed him staring at him, and with all the contempt and disgust he could muster, he spat, "You coward."
The lift stopped, the nozzles ringing the cylinder opened, and a thick, burning cloud of carbonite enveloped them. For barely a millisecond, Calvin felt the indescribable pain. His nerves broke apart, and-
Limbo.
The hatred in Calvin's words almost had Lando forget to close his eyes from the inevitable residue that followed the initial spray of carbonite. When the cloud cleared, two perfect rectangles were left, each one containing the metallic, preserved form of Calvin and Han.
Lando wasted no time, trying to look as indifferent as possible as he walked over to the control terminal, and couldn't stop a sigh of relief escaping his mouth.
"Well, Calrissian? Did they survive?" Vader asked.
"Yes, they're alive," Lando confirmed, "and in perfect hibernation."
"They're all yours, bounty hunter," Vader said, and turned to his subordinates. "Reset the chamber for Skywalker and his companion!"
"Both of the ships have just landed, my lord," an officer informed Vader.
"Good. See to it that they find their way here," Vader ordered. "Calrissian, take the princess and the Wookiee to my ship."
Lando's eyes widened at the order. He rushed to catch up with the dark lord, who was walking away.
"You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision!" he argued. Vader sharply turned at the words, staring eerily at the man. Lando took an involuntary step back.
"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further," he warned, and turned to walk out. Calrissian's hand instinctively went to his throat, and he turned to look at Chewie, 3po, and Leia staring back at him. Tears were rolling down her face, and she turned away to sob into Chewbacca's chest. There and then, he made up his mind.
He was no coward, and he still had a chance left to prove it.
At the same time, on one of the many landing platforms, an X-wing and a Y-wing had just touched down.
Climbing out of his cockpit, Hobbes closed his eyes for a moment, letting the warm Bespin breeze rush through his fur. He hated being cooped up in a small cockpit for so long. It was the one downside to flying your very own Y-wing.
Opening his eyes, he took a look around. He and Luke had landed on the landing platform closest to the Millenium Falcon, which was seemingly deserted and surrounded by repair equipment. Grabbing his carbine and ammo from the storage compartment, he looked over at Luke, who already had his blaster and lightsaber. R2 stood beside him, urging Hobbes to hurry up through bleeps and whirrs.
"Ready?" Luke asked.
"Yep," Hobbes nodded, and looked around. "Y'know, this place seems oddly quiet."
"Well, watch my back and I'll watch yours," Luke said. "C'mon."
And so, the three friends entered the quiet, pristine hallways of the city, staying as silent as possible as they made their way through the maze of ivory corridors. Nothing stirred. Gradually, Hobbes became more and more convinced that something was up. Why else would the hallways be empty? Why else would there be no guards to greet them or patrol cars to escort them?
They continued searching hallway by hallway, covering ground faster and faster at the thought that if they didn't hurry, someone could die. And eventually, their searching was rewarded.
"Wait," Hobbes held out a hand. All of them stopped as Hobbes listened, his ears twitching.
"Someone's close by," he realized, and crept over to the nearby hallway, Luke right behind him. Peeking out from behind the wall, he tried to listen again for the voices that he had heard just then.
Suddenly, a figure walked into view, and Hobbes moved back into cover. Slowly peeking again, he saw an armored Mandolorian holding a blaster. Behind him was a procession of Cloud City guards and stormtroopers, pulling two strange, rectangular slabs on antigravity boosters. Luke moved to see as well.
Suddenly, more guards came into view, escorting exactly who he, Luke, and R2 were looking for. In the midst of the soldiers were Leia and Chewie, the latter carrying a dismantled 3po on his back! Strangely, though, Calvin and Han were nowhere to be seen.
The last few guards finally disappeared from view.
"Luke!" he hissed. "We've got to-"
I know, Luke assured him, mouthing the words. Clutching his blaster in one hand, he motioned for Hobbes and R2 to follow him, and quietly moved down the adjacent hallway. Reaching the next corner, Hobbes carefully looked out at the next hallway, and saw the Mandolorian walk out of view again.
A few quiet beeps came from R2, who urged them to catch up and rescue 3po. Touching an agitated finger to his lips, Luke got the excited astromech to calm down. Taking up his blaster, he went to turn the corner.
Suddenly, the Mandalorian appeared in the nearby doorway, blaster rifle leveled, and sent a trio of explosive blasts toward Luke and Hobbes, who both leaned back into cover, just barely avoiding getting their faces melted off.
"Sweet Tigresses!" Hobbes exclaimed, and sent a few returning blasts from the tip of his carbine. The Mandalorian, however, had already disappeared from view.
"C'mon!" he urged, and moved out of cover to go after the group.
"Wait," Luke stopped him, and pointed towards another passage. "We can cut them off if they're heading to where I think they're heading to."
Hobbes nodded and raced down the suggested passage, taking twists and turns. Finally, he heard the footsteps of the soldiers again, and raised his blaster as he neared a corner. Turning it, he immediately jumped back as a flurry of red blaster bolts created smoking impact craters in the wall. Recovering quickly, he took a breath, and fired back. But the defense put up by the troopers was too much for him to land a hit. The officer using Leia as a human shield didn't help.
Suddenly, a lightsaber hissed, and Luke jumped out of cover, deflecting blaster bolts like he was born to do it. With the extra advantage, Hobbes fired bolt after bolt, using his precise senses to snipe trooper after trooper. The only way to save Leia and the rest of them now was to get them back before the troops transported them off of the city… if that's what they were going to do.
The troopers once again disappeared from sight as the Mandalorian covered them. About to go after them, Hobbes stopped at hearing the desperate voice of Leia.
"Luke! Hobbes! Don't! It's a trap- it's a trap!"
Both of them stopped at the warning, looking at each other with concern.
"What now?" Luke asked.
"I'm going to get Calvin," Hobbes told him. "I don't care what kind of trap they have set- if I'm careful, they won't get me."
"Alright," Luke sighed. "I'm with you."
A series of bleeps came from R2, saying that he, too, was with them.
"Alright, let's go!" Hobbes nodded, and moved down the hallway. After a few more turns and a set of stairs, they finally stood in front of a large metal doorway, the room inside circular and dark. Hobbes could barely see anything inside, even with his night vision.
"Stay quiet," Luke cautioned, and entered the room.
Entering, Hobbes was struck by a familiar feeling, as if he had been here before in this room. In the center, a set of glowing, red, metallic stairs led to a smaller, circular platform at the top, where blue smoke flowed out like dry ice.
With a sharp gasp, Hobbes' pupils suddenly dilated as he remembered where he had seen this room before. Too fast for him to keep up, all of the pieces fit into place. This room was the same one from his vision… the smoke flowing out was ice-hot carbon, and those gray slabs that he had seen… they were Han and Calvin, just as it had been in his vision.
"Hobbes!" Luke exclaimed, looking at him with concern. For another second, Hobbes processed the information.
Wait. If Calvin and Han are already frozen, then there would be no reason to come back to the chamber. And if that were true, then that means that this is the-
"Luke! Trap!" he realized, just as a menacing hiss filled the air. All three of them looked over at the top of the stairs, and to Hobbes' horror, holding a crimson lightsaber was Darth Vader.
The next few seconds were a mess. In a split second, Luke knew that Hobbes and R2 were in serious danger; Vader would kill them in a heartbeat. So, with no time left to think and his friends in danger, he did the only thing he could.
Leveling his blaster carbine, Hobbes was about to fire when Luke whirled without warning, and extending his arms, sent a powerful wave of energy that slammed into him and R2, sending them skidding and rolling back through the doorway. Before he could get up, Luke flicked his hand and the doors locked shut, leaving Hobbes and R2 on one side and Luke against Vader on the other.
"No! Luke!" Hobbes yelled. Terrified at the thought of Luke facing that monster alone, he sprang up and slammed his fist against the door. Trying to use it's controls, all he received was a negative buzzing sound. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"
Beside him, R2 attempted to access a socket in the wall. Noticing, Hobbes received some semblance of hope. Maybe R2 could open it! Maybe- a sudden electrical crackling caused R2 to back away, disconnecting. The socket was locked from use as well.
"No... R2, try again," Hobbes urged the astromech. R2, obliged, but as soon as he made contact, the same electrical barrier send him rolling back.
"Dank Ferrik!" he yelled, and slumped to the ground. Calvin and Han were frozen in carbonite… Leia, Chewie, and 3po were about to disappear forever in some sort of imperial prison, and now, Luke was locked in a room with Darth Vader, unprepared and caught off guard! All of his friends were trapped and in imminent danger, and he could do nothing about it!
How did I let this happen?
He and Calvin were one step away from making it- from getting back home. They had gotten a Crystal. They had the machine. All they needed was Coaxium... and now, everyone he loved was gone. Taken from him by the Empire. Beside him, R2 beeped for him to get up. What was the point?
Sullen, he sat there for a full minute, bemoaning his loss. Without realizing it, one of his paws slowly made it's way up to the Kyber crystal that now hung around his neck, and he looked at it with surprise. The crystal that Yoda had given him. The crystal that could get him and Calvin back home.
What had Yoda said? 'I see your struggle… your hardship. You are a creature of kindness. Of loyalty and friendship.'
'Of loyalty and friendship.'
A faint glimmer suddenly entered his eyes, before his whole face frowned in self-disgust. He he was, sitting and sulking over Luke's peril, not doing anything while the rest of his friends were being carted off to the empire! Yoda had said it himself: He was a creature of Loyalty and Friendship.
I can't do anything about Luke, he realized. He's on his own, for now. But he's strong. He's fierce, like me. He'll hold out. And I still have to save the rest of my friends.
"Keep moving!" a voice suddenly came from somewhere far in the city's hallways. Anyone else wouldn't have heard it, but thankfully, Hobes was a cat. "Keep that Wookie in line!"
And there they are.
Turning to face the door on the other side of which was Luke, Hobbes murmured a short prayer and scooped up his carbine. Checking the tibanna cartridge, Hobbes motioned for R2 to follow him, to which the droid happily whistled and beeped. Leveling the blaster, he exited the hallway that led to the door and followed the voice of the man from earlier.
"I'm coming, Calvin," he promised.
He wasn't out of the race yet.
Yeah, I'm not too proud of this chapter. It's rushed, but I suppose it works.
:D