Rescuing the Princess
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Luke, Juno, Han and Chewbacca made their way through the sterile grey corridors of the Death Star en route to the detention block. Presently, a mouse droid rolled up to them. Chewbacca roared at it and the droid squealed away.
"Subtle." Juno muttered as the group pressed on.
Presently, the group reached the lifts. As they waited for one to arrive, the group watched as officers, droids and technicians walked past, none of them giving the quartet so much as a second glance. As far as the Empire was concerened, Juno was a technician, Luke and Han were Stormtroopers and Chewbacca was their prisoner. A lift soon arrived and a fleet trooper exited, allowing Han and Chewbacca to enter the lift. Juno followed them in and Luke brought up the rear, bumping his shoulder on the door frame in the process. "I can't see a thing in this helmet." he grumbled as the doors closed and the lift began to ascend to level 5.
~8~
Obi-Wan hid in an alcove as a platoon of Stormtroopers marched past. Once the coast was clear, Obi-Wan came out of hiding and resumed his journey towards the tractor beam controls. All the while he could sense a presence he hadn't felt in many years. He knew that Vader was aboard this station and his instincts told him he would encounter his former pupil soon.
~8~
As the lift continued its ascent to the detention block, Luke noticed that Chewbacca's binders had come undone. "This is not gonna work." Han said pessimistically.
"Why didn't ya say so before?" Luke retorted.
"I did say so before!" Han shot back.
"Well, it's too late to get cold feet now, Hotshot." Juno told him. "We're gonna see this through and hope it works."
Just then, the lift doors opened and the quartet stepped out to find themselves at detention block AA23, where a lieutenant and several fleet troopers were manning the desks. The lieutenant immediately looked at the four newcomers. "Where are you taking this... thing?" he asked suspiciously.
Chewbacca growled at the insult, but Han elbowed him to shut up.
"We found him in that captured ship." Juno told the lieutenant, having thought up a cover story on the way. "We were ordered to bring him here."
"I wasn't notified." the lieutenant scowled, not buying the cover story. "I'll have to clear out." He gestured to two of his men, who drew out their blasters and approached the quartet.
As one of the troopers reached Chewbacca, the Wookie sprang out of his loose restraints and tossed the trooper across the room. "Look out, he's loose!" Han said, continuing the charade.
"He'll tear us all apart!" Luke said, handing Chewbacca a blaster from a weapons rack.
"I'll get him!" Han said as he shot the lieutenant with his own blaster.
"Ah well, so much for subtle." Juno muttered as she used the Force to push the second Fleet trooper away. He slammed into the wall and was knocked out cold.
A third trooper came hurrying out of the cell bay having heard the shots, but Han swiftly dealt with him, then he, Luke and Chewbacca began shooting the cameras to buy them some privacy. "Look out!" Luke warned as he saw a fourth trooper enter the fray. He made short work of the trooper and the firefight was over.
Han moved to the desk and shoved the dead lieutenant out of the way. "We gotta find out which cell this Princess of yours is in." he said as he fiddled with a few controls. "Here it is, 2187."
"What about the aide?" Juno asked him.
Han checked the computer read-out. "1138." he told Juno.
"Right. Luke, you get the aide, I'll get the Princess." Juno said, and she and Luke went off down the cell bay while Han removed his helmet and switched on the radio.
"Uh, everything's under control, situation normal." he said into the radio.
"What happened?" an officer's voice said over the other end.
"Had a slight weapons malfunction," Han lied, "but, er... everything's perfectly alright now. We're fine, we're all fine here now, thank you... how are you?"
"We're sending a squad up." the officer said.
"Uh, negative, negative!" Han said quickly. "We have a reactor leak here, uh, now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak, very dangerous."
"Who is this?!" the officer demanded. "What's your operating number?"
Having ran out of excuses, Han promptly shot the radio. "Boring conversation anyway." he muttered, then shouted after the two youngsters, "Kids, we're gonna have company!"
"Great." Juno muttered as she and Luke headed for the respective cells.
Luke entered cell 1138, where Kali Marek was sat on the bunk, mourning the destruction of her home planet. Luke was stunned by the young woman's incredible beauty and stood staring at her with his mouth hanging open beneath his helmet. At last, Kali lifted her head and looked at him. "What're you looking at?" she asked irritably. "Ain't you bucketheads ever seen a woman before?"
"Huh?" Luke blinked in surprise, then remembered that he was wearing Stormtrooper armour. "Oh, the uniform." He removed his helmet. "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you and the Princess."
"What?" Kali blinked.
"I'm here to rescue you." Luke replied. "We've got your R2 unit. We're here with Ben Kenobi."
"Good old R2." Kali smiled. "Right, lead on, kid."
Juno meanwhile entered cell 2187 to find Princess Leia Organa asleep on the cell's bunk. The Princess woke up upon Juno's entry. "Princess Leia? I'm Juno Kosem." the Jedi said, taking her hat off. "I've come to get you outta here. We have a mutual friend; Ben Kenobi."
Leia immediately jumped to her feet. "Ben Kenobi? Where is he?!" she asked urgently.
"Come on!" Juno urged, and she led her out of the cell to join Luke and Kali, who had just left cell 1138.
~8~
Vader had returned to the conference room and was telling Tarkin of his suspicions. "He is here."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Tarkin raised a brow. "What makes you think so?"
"A tremor in the Force." Vader replied. "The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master."
"Surely he must be dead by now."
"Don't underestimate the Force."
"The Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out of the universe." Tarkin dismissed. "You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion." Just then, the comlink sounded. "Yes?"
"Governor Tarkin, we have an emergency alert in detention block AA23." an officer reported.
"The Princess and the Rebel?!" Tarkin realised. "Put all sections on alert."
"Obi-Wan is here." Vader declared. "The Force is with him."
Now Tarkin took heed. "If you're right, he must not be allowed to escape."
"Escape is not his plan. I must face him alone." Vader said knowingly.
~8~
Han and Chewbacca were readying themselves for the expected company coming their way. "Get behind me! Get behind me!" Han urged his friend and they both took up defensive positions as they heard the lift arrive.
The lift door was blown open and Stormtroopers burst out and opened fire on the two intruders. Han and Chewbacca managed to down the first two troopers and they both ran off down the cell bay. "Watch to your left." the Stormtrooper commander told his men. "They went down the cell bay."
Han and Chewbacca reunited with Luke and the three women. "Can't get out that way." Han told them.
"Looks like you've managed to cut off our only escape route." Leia told him dryly.
"Maybe you'd like it back in your cell, Your Highness." Han retorted.
Suddenly, blaster fire from the Stormtroopers whizzed by uncomfortably close, so the group all dived for cover behind wall pillars and Han and Chewbacca returned fire, while Juno ignited her lightsabre and used it to deflect blaster bolts away. "Your friend's a Jedi?!" Kali said to Luke. She'd never met a Jedi, but she'd heard all the stories about them.
Luke took a small comlink from his belt as the firefight continued. "C-3PO, C-3PO!" he said urgently. "Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!" More shots whizzed past. "What was that? I didn't copy."
~8~
"I said all systems have been alerted to your presence, sir." 3PO said into his comlink. "The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out. All other information on your level is restricted."
Suddenly, both droids heard a tapping on the control room door. "Open up in there!" a Stormtrooper's voice demanded from outside.
"Oh, no." 3PO groaned, realising that they'd been found.
~8~
"There isn't any other way out." Luke told the others as they fired back against the Stormtroopers, who seemed to just keep coming and coming no matter how many were shot.
"We can't hold 'em off forever. Now what?!" Han grumbled.
"Tell that droid to look again." Juno told Luke, using the Force to fling a Stormtrooper back. "There's gotta be another exit somewhere." She then used her lightsabre to deflect a blaster bolt right back at the Stormtrooper who had fired it.
"This is some rescue!" Leia commented. "When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?"
"They're the brains, sweetheart!" Han retorted, nodding to Luke and Juno.
"Well, we didn't..." Luke began to retort, only for Kali to snatch his blaster from him and shoot open a grille in the wall next to Han.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the smuggler demanded.
"Getting us out of here, wise guy." Kali retorted, moving across the cell bay and firing a few shots at the Stormtroopers to hold them off. "Quickly, Your Highness!" she called to Leia, who scrambled over to join her by the opening she'd just created.
"Into the garbage chute, Fly Boy." Leia ordered Han, and jumped through the narrow opening. Kali tossed the blaster back to Luke and jumped in after the Princess.
Chewbacca began to follow when he suddenly got cold feet. "Get in there!" Han told him
Chewbacca growled in protest
"Get in there, ya big furry oaf!" Han snapped, "I don't care what ya smell! Just get in there and don't worry about it!" And so Chewbacca reluctantly dived into the chute.
Juno deactivated her lightsabre and dived in after Chewbacca, leaving just Luke and Han to go. "Wonderful girls!" Han said sarcastically. "Either I'm gonna kill 'em or I'm beginning to like 'em. Get in there!" Luke ducked under the blaster fire and jumped into the darkness. Han fired a last few shots at the attacking Stormtroopers then he dived into the chute himself. The next thing Han knew, he was landing in a heap of rubbish and he found that they'd all landed in a rubbish compactor. Chewbacca was trying to force the door open while the Humans were recovering from the dive. "Argh!" Han grimaced at the pong from the rubbish, "The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea." he said sarcastically to Kali, who gave him a dark look in response. "What a wonderful smell you've discovered."
"I didn't hear you come with any better ideas, Hotshot." Juno reminded.
Han ignored her. "Let's get outta here. Get away from there." he ordered Chewbacca, who backed away from the door and Han aimed his blaster at it.
"No, wait..." Luke began, but it was too late. Han fired and everyone was forced to hit the deck as the shot deflected off the door and ricoched around the compactor.
"Idiot!" Kali glared.
"Will you forget it?! I already tried it! It's magnetically sealed!" Luke exploded at Han.
"Put that thing away, you're gonna get us all killed!" Leia added angrily.
"Absolutely, your Worship." Han retorted snidely, "Look, I had everything under control so ya friend led us down here! Ya know, it's not gonna take 'em look to figure out what happened to us."
"Could be worse." Leia shot back.
Suddenly, a loud, horrible, inhuman growling noise echoed through the compactor. "I think you've just jinxed us, Your Highness." Juno deadpanned, taking her lightsabre out in readiness.
"There's something alive in here." Luke warned.
"That's your imagination." Han dismissed him.
Kali yelped suddenly. "Something just moved past my leg!" she squirmed.
"Look!" Luke said, pointing to a tentacle swimming in the water. "D'ya see that?!"
"What?" Han asked, seeing nothing.
Suddenly, another tentacle popped out of the water, wrapped itself around Luke's leg and dragged him underwater. "Luke!" Juno hollered, rushing forward and desperately searching on her hands and knees through the water to try and find him.
A moment later, Luke popped back up with tentacles wrapped around him. "Blast it, will ya?!" he choked out. "My gun's jammed!"
"Where?" Han asked
"Anywhere!" Luke shot back, and so Han began wildly firing his blaster into the water to try and free Luke from the creature.
"Hang on..." Juno ignited her lightsabre and swung it down, slicing through the tentacles that were attacking Luke. The creature that the tentacles belonged to howled in pain and slithered away.
"Are you alright?" Kali asked Luke as she and Leia helped unwrap the severed tentacles from around him.
"Yeah." Luke coughed. "Thanks." he rasped to Juno.
"Any time." the Jedi reciprocated, deactivating her lightsabre.
Suddenly, a metallic clanking echoed around the compactor. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." Kali breathed.
More metallic clanks sounded. "I got a bad feeling about this." Han said uneasily
As if on cue, the walls of the compactor began to close in. "The walls are moving!" Luke hollered, realising that the walls would crush them all like bugs.
"Well, don't just stand there, try and brace it with something!" Leia urged, picking up a discarded piece of metal and holding it up against one of the approaching walls. Juno tried to hold the walls at bay with the Force, but she couldn't concentrate. Han picked up another piece of scrap and tried to stop the other wall, and Chewbacca attemped to stop the wall with his Wookie strength, but even he wasn't strong enough to stop the enormously heavy metal wall.
Luke suddenly remembered his comlink. "3PO? Come in, 3PO!" he hollered into it, receiving no answer. "3PO! Where could he be?!"
~8~
3PO's comlink lay switched off on the desk in the control room, while the droid himself was nowhere to be seen, as was R2. The door burst open and a group of Stormtroopers stormed into the room, one of them rather stupidly klonking his head on the bottom of the door. "See to him." the commander ordered, then he and several of his men searched the room. They found the bodies of the two officers Han and Chewbacca had killed, then they heard urgent tapping on a storage cupboard door. "Look, there!" the commander said as one of his men hurried over to the cupboard and opened the door.
The Stormtroopers found R2 and 3PO hiding inside. "They're madmen!" 3PO said, remembering Juno's advice about pretending to belong. "They're heading for the prison level. If you hurry, you might catch them!"
"Follow me." the Stormtrooper commander ordered his men and they all hurried to the door. "You stand guard." the commander ordered the trooper who had hit his head, then he and the others hurried away.
3PO came out of the cupboard and retrieved his comlink from the desk. "Come on!" he urged R2, and the two droids headed for the door, where they found the remaining Stormtrooper on guard. "All this excitement has overrun the circuits in my counterpart here." 3PO lied. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take him down to maintenance."
"Alright." the Stormtrooper conceded, still too dazed from whacking his head to realise the deception.
R2 gave an amused beep as he and 3PO quickly made their escape.
~8~
"3PO! Come in, 3PO!" Luke yelled frantically into his comlink as the walls of the rubbish compactor continued to close in.
"Get on top!" Han urged the women.
"I can't!" Leia said as she just couldn't find her footing.
"Where could he be?" Luke grumbled as he still couldn't get any response from the droids. "3PO, will you come in?!"
~8~
Meanwhile, 3PO and R2 had managed to sneak into an alcove facing the hanger the Millennium Falcon was captive in. "See if they've been captured." 3PO ordered R2, who extended his datalink into a computer terminal and began searching for the others.
~8~
"One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner." Han said as the walls continued to close in.
"Oh, shut up!" Juno snapped at him as she tried again to hold the walls off with the Force, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't concentrate and the walls continued to advance relentlessly towards them.
"Get on top of it!" Han said to Leia and Kali, who were trying to scale one of the walls.
"What d'ya think we're trying to do?!" Kali shot back. No matter how hard she and Leia tried, their wet boots wouldn't grip and they both just slipped down again.
~8~
R2 checked the Imperial records and found out that Luke and the others were still at large.
"Oh, thank goodness they haven't found them." 3PO said in relief. "Where could they be?"
R2 whistled a suggestion to him.
"'Use the comlink?' Oh, my. I forgot. I turned it off." 3PO realised, then he switched the comlink back on. "Are you there, sir?" he asked.
"3PO?!" Luke's voice gasped
"We've had some problems."
"Will you shut up and listen to me?!" Luke interrupted frantically, "Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level, will ya?! D'ya copy? Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!"
"Shut them all down! Hurry!" 3PO hollered to R2, who immediately got to work with his datalink.
~8~
Just as the rubbish compactor's walls were about to crush the six people inside, they suddenly stopped. "Ha, ha!" Han laughed in relief.
"What?!" Luke blinked as he opened his eyes.
"That was too close." Juno panted.
"Hey, 3PO!" Luke chortled.
~8~
The yells and laughs carried over the comlink. 3PO thought they were screaming. "Listen to them. They're dying, R2." he said sadly. "Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough. It's all my fault. My poor Master."
"We're alright!" Luke said over the comlink. "You did great! Hey, open the pressure maintenance hatch on unit number... where are we?"
"3263827." Juno's voice answered.
~8~
Obi-Wan made his way down a corridor until he reached a walkway over a vast chasm. Attached to the walkway was a circular power terminal which powered the tractor beam. Obi-Wan carefully shimmed around the edge of the terminal until he found the controls, then he began disabling the tractor beam.
Author's notes: And so we have all our heroes meet at last. The interactions are brief, as there's more important things going on currently, but I want to try and show some of the dynamics going forward in the next few chapters. At first, I did think about Juno being successful in holding the rubbish compacter's walls at bay with the Force, but I didn't want to run the risk of the Rey effect and have her be overpowered, so I've had Juno be unsuccessful here. However, I do aim to show some Force competency in the next chapter. Until next time then...