Chapter 10: Princess Rescue

"Yes, rich, powerful. Listen, if youwere to rescue her, the reward would be..." Luke did his best sales person pitch he practiced with his uncle back on the farm. Pushing a fixed idea never got anyone far, so much easier to paint a big picture and let others fill in the gaps themselves.

The audience were impressed at Luke's clever negotiating skills. He surely had his father's mouth and Obi-Wan's teachings.

"What?"

"More wealth than you can imagine.".

"I don't know, I can imagine quite abit!"

"You'll get it!"

"I better!"

"I have to tell you, this Solo fellow reminds me of Hondo.", Obi-Wan remarked.

"They're both smugglers, of course money would be one thing that could change their mind.", Mace agreed with him.

"A hefty amount of it, of course", Yoda added.

"Alright kid, but you better be right about this." His manipulation was blatant and transparent but he did have a valid point. With Alderaan gone, them stuck on an imperial superweapon and half his passengers missing in action, chances of him getting paid were decreasing by the second. And he needed that money to pay off Jabba.

"If only I know where Luke is, I could've at least try visiting him.", Ahsoka stated at her master's son.

"So what's the plan? You do have a plan right?"

"Of course, just uh, lemme get these cuffs on the Wookie." Luke picked up a pair of handcuffs and approached Chewie, backing off when he got an angry roar in response.

"Okay… you put them on."

"Don't worry Chewie, I think I know what he's planning. Here's hoping it works." Han shrugged when a sceptical growl was all the response he got, but at least Chewie held out his hands for the cuffs and didn't protest any further.

Meanwhile, Ben was silently following a squad of Stormtroopers down a hallway, keeping a safe distance from them. Vader was also patrolling the halls, searching for whatever it was he had sensed earlier

Several minutes later, Han, Luke and Chewie were marching down the hallway, two Stormtroopers escorting their prisoner to the detention block while the droids remained behind in the command centre. Curious onlookers were dissuaded with the occasional roar and blaster prodding, as far as anyone was concerned, it was just a cell transfer and things were under control.

"Rrrghh, I can't see a thing in this helmet." Luke complained as he unlocked the cuffs once they were safely inside the elevator leading to the detention block.

"See? Even General Skywalker's son says it. That garbage is nothing like Clone Armor!", Rex boasted.

"What makes you say that?", Ahsoka questioned.

"We don't miss our shots, that's why."

"Huh, have they shot anything else recently?"

"You are not inspiring confidence right now. Oh here we go." Han muttered and thumbed the safety on his captured Stormtrooper blaster off when the elevator chime indicated they'd arrived.

"This is not gonna work." Han said.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Luke asked, annoyed.

"Ididsay so before."

"Their plan, what was it?" Yoda asked.

"Well, Master, the first part is fairly simple: they're posing as soldiers escorting Chewie to the prison block. After that, they need to somehow gain access to the prisoner records to find out where she is, free her and get out." Ki-Adi explained.

"No way it'll be that easy. The prison is bound to have guards in it." Anakin commented.

"Which means they either have to do it very stealthily, or they'll have to gain control by force. Considering that Luke is undoing Chewie's cuffs, I'm leaning towards the latter."

"Well they had two ways to do it; either stealth or dumb and loud."

The elevator door opened behind them and the two fake Stormtroopers led their prisoner into the detention block, which was full of guards. They were stopped by an officer

The officer on duty could only stare in surprise at the strangely coloured Wookie. "Where are you taking this… thing?"

"Prisoner transfer from B1138." Luke answered.

"I wasn't notified. I'll have to clear it." The officer stared at the trio suspiciously before waving several guards over to take over. One of the stormtroopers was far shorter than regulation allowed and the prisoner was far too calm about things, something didn't add up for him.

As soon as the guards were within range, Chewie went berserk, snapping free of the unlocked cuffs, he started throwing the guards around the place with brute force.

The audience sighed. Dumb and loud it is.

"Look out! The prisoner's loose!" Han shouted and started firing in Chewie's direction, his shots conveniently missing him and ending up as 'friendly' fire. Luke pretended to try and melee Chewie with his gun only to hand the Wookie the weapon for more chaos. Pulling out a spare blaster and filling the room with more bolts, the three of them worked to ice every confused and panicking imperial in the room while destroying every camera and alarm control in the place.

Han moved over to the main console and pulled a corpse off it, cursing when he saw one of the silent alarms had been tripped and an alert had already been sent. "Damnit, let's see, princess… princess… got it, she's in cell 2187. Go get her, I'll try and fix this."

As Luke went off to retrieve the princess and Chewie took up position behind cover, Han swallowed his nervousness and keyed the intercom, shutting off the alarm as he did so. "Uh, everything's fine over here, situation normal."

"What happened?" The unamused voice came from the intercom.

"Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but everything's perfectly fine we're all fine here, thank you.", Han replied before adding. "How are you?"

Mace and Plo facepalmed at this, knowing that their cover is blown.

"We're sending a squad up."

"Uh negative. Negative! We have a reactor leak here. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak here, very dangerous." Han said and prayed they bought his bluff.

"Who is this? What's your operating number?"

Han silently cursed as his streak of bad luck continued, and blasted the console to pieces. What the hell do you mean there are no reactors in this room?

The audience laughed at this course of action, though it was pretty clear he can't talk out of this anymore.

"Boring conversation anyway. Luke! Better hurry it up, we're about to have lots of company!" Han called out and took position behind cover, as he locked down the doors. If the Stormtroopers wanted in, they'd have to blast their way in, hopefully it'd buy them some extra time.

"He has to hurry otherwise they would move in to execute the Princess.", Padmé exclaimed in worry.

"Have faith in him, Senator Amidala. I'm sure he can do this.", Anakin replied, though he was unsure if Padmé knew this was her son too.

Luke didn't reply as he counted down the doors before finding the one he was searching for. Hitting the door controls, the door slid open with a small hiss and an unamused Leia was waiting on the other side. She stirred and sat up on one elbow.

"Aren't you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?" she asked snidely.

"Well, excuse me, Princess!", Anakin called out to her for calling his son like that.

"Huh?" It took Luke brain a while to catch up to reality, it had been too busy drinking in Leia's beauty. She looked good in the holo, but seeing her first-hand put it all to shame. "Oh, right, yeah, the uniform." She took off her helmet. "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you."

"You're who?" Leia sat up, confused.

"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit, I'm here with Ben Kenobi!"

That got her attention. "Ben Kenobi! Where is he?"

"Come on!" Luke took her hand and led her into the hallway.

"Man, I will never get used to referring Obi-Wan to by that name." Ahsoka complained.

"It doesn't really suit him, does it?" Luminara agreed.

Obi-Wan remained silent though internally the memories of Satine coming back to him because she was the first to call him Ben when he was tasked in protecting her in Mandalore. And this was one way for his future to keep her memory.

In another part of the battle station, Vader was conferring with Tarkin.

"He is here." he said, completely sure of himself.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi? What makes you think so?" Tarkin questioned with a frown.

"A tremor in the Force." he explained, "The last time I felt it, was in the presence of my old master."

"But surely, he must be dead by now."

"Don't underestimate the Force." Vader warned.

"The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out in the universe." A loud ding alerted Tarkin to an awaiting transmission, "You, my friend are all that is left of their religion."

"A Jedi, he is not.", Yoda firmly stated with a frown towards the Dark Lord.

Obi-Wan sighed, wishing he had known better if this was going to happen.

"Yes?"

"We have an emergency situation in Detention Cell AA-23." The voice from earlier reported.

"The Princess? Put all sections on alert!"

"Obi-Wanishere. The Force is with him." Vader said.

"If you're right, he must not be allowed to escape."

"Escape is not his plan." Vader knew. "I must face him, alone."

Luminara looked in worry for the Jedi Master. "Surely he could defeat him?"

Mace lowered his head in deep thought. "Largely because he needed to hide from the Empire, I can hope Master Kenobi could still fight like he used to if he was not able to train.

"But given his own old age, would that hinder his fighting ability?", Shaak Ti added.

Mundi shook his head. "Dooku was much older than Master Kenobi at this point yet he is still a very dangerous opponent. But only because he continued to harness his skills and of the Force."

"Master has survived the Republic's fall and the Purge. I'm sure he can survive this.", Anakin said, trying to remain rational.

In the cellblock, Chewie heard the descending elevator before Han did. Chewie growled as he took up a defensive position next to Han.

"Get behind me!" Han yelled before shooting the door as soon as the elevator arrived.

The door exploded outwards, leaving a gaping hole the Stormtroopers were forced to crawl through. The first trooper fell the second he stepped into the hole, creating another obstacle for his comrades. They streamed through the breach, laying down a barrage that forced Chewie and Han to flee into the hallway.

"Can't get out that way." Han said as he and Chewie met up with Luke and Leia.

"Looks like they've cut of our escape route, some rescue this is turning out to be.", Leia commented.

"Maybe you'd like it better in your cell your highness, there's always time for you to go back to it." Han snapped back as he ducked under a blaster shot that nearly took his head off

"Come on, be grateful that you're being freed and one is getting paid.", Ahsoka snidely said.

The group took cover on either side of the corridor, with Chewie and Han laying down suppressing fire while Luke took out a communicator and shielded Leia as best he could.

"Threepio! Threepio, come in! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!" he yelled.

"All systems have been alerted to your presence, sir." Threepio said, "The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out. All other information on your level is restricted." A knocking on the door made him turn the communicator off on reflex.

"C3PO, come in C3PO!" Luke shouted into his mike trying to raise the droids.

"Are there any other ways out of the detention block!? Our exit is cut off!"

"Sir, from the schematics the elevator is the only way in or out of the block so as to prevent a prison break." The protocol droid informed them getting Jaune to swear.

"There isn't any other way out!" Luke yelled across to Han.

"Well, now what? We can't hold 'em off forever!" Han replied.

"This is some rescue!" Leia yelled sarcastically, "You came down here without a plan to get out?"

"He's the brains, sweetheart!" Han yelled, pointing at Luke.

"They argued like a married couple.", Luminara observed.

Kit Fisto chuckled. "I wouldn't expect less if they ended up together."

Anakin felt as if a chill went through his spine at hearing Master Fisto's words.

Rolling her eyes, Leia took the blaster from Luke's hands and blasted a grate between Han and Chewie. "What are you doing?!"

"Somebody has to save our skins! Into the garbage chute, wiseguy!" Leia said as she moved across the hallway and dived down the hole she had made after tossing Luke his blaster. Chewie made to follow her, but stopped with one foot in.

"Get in there!" Han yelled but Chewie growled in protest.

"Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don't care what ya smell!" he kicked Chewie in the rear with his heel and ignored the obscenities his friend yelled at him on the way down. "Wonderful girl!" Han yelled to Luke, "Before I wanted to kill her. Now I'm beginning to like her! Get in there!" Luke dived in, followed by Han a few seconds later.

Anakin tensed at the smuggler's comment, suddenly feeling the need to protect the Princess from him.

As he emerged on the other side, Ha crashed painfully into a pile of scrap metal and the horrifying stench instantly assaulted his nose. Chewie's mournful wails could echoed around the enclosed place as her enhanced senses made everything a living nightmare.

"Oh! The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea. What an incredible smell you've discovered! Let's get out of here! Get away from there..." Han snarked and Leia shot him an ire filled glare. Unlike Han and Luke, she didn't have the benefit of Stormtrooper armour and her once white dress was now stained black and brown and her hair was coated in filth she really didn't want to think about.

"I know they have to escape but why the garbage chute of all places?", Ahsoka asked in disbelief.

"We went through worse ordeals. Surely something as the garbage chute can't be that bad.", Obi-Wan said, trying to remain rational.

"Let's get out of here. Get away from here" Han muttered, aiming at the door.

"NO WAIT!", Luke tried to stop him but was too late. The bolt bounced off the door and the walls several times. Everybody took cover until they heard it explode when it made contact with a piece of refuse on the opposite side of the compactor.

"Well, blaster's off the chart.", Rex stated at seeing the recent course of action.

"Speaking of bad luck...", Mace pitied their current ordeal.

"Will you forget it?! I already tried, it's magnetically sealed!" Luke yelled.

"Put that thing away! You're gonna get us all killed!" Leia added at the same volume.

"Absolutely, your worship." Han snapped, "Look, I had everything under control until you led us down here. You know, it's not gonna take long for them to figure out what happened to us."

"Arguing won't get you anywhere.", Plo Koon commented at the group.

"I don't know, I find it funny rather.", Kit Fisto said with a chuckle.

"Well, it could be worse." Leia snapped back. On cue, a loud roaring echoed through the compactor.

"It's worse." Han said.

"There's something alive in here." Luke whined, sensing it.

"That's your imagination."

Luke jumped as he felt something brush past his leg. Looking down, he saw some kind of tentacle descend into the water. Luke pointed it out, but nobody saw anything. Chewie was the only one who believed Luke. He hadn't seen it either, but his instincts were practically screaming at his that something else was in there with them. And he wanted out. Badly.

Before he knew what happened, a tentacle wrapped around Luke's leg and dragged him down into the muck.

"LUKE!", everyone shouted in fear for Anakin's son.

"Luke!" Han yelled and waddled over to where he went down, digging through the floating trash and muck to try and find Luke.

When Luke emerged again from the water, a tentacle was wrapped around her neck choking the life out of him while him limbs flailed around uselessly. "B-blast it damnit! Blast it!"

"What was that?", Caleb called out curious.

"Dianoga.", Mastee Bilaba answered. "It's surprising that it find its way into a space station.

"Hold still! I can't shoot with you moving all over the place!" Han tried to aim at the tentacle but with Luke's struggles, he was more likely to hit him than the creature killing him.

"Grab on to this!" Leia held out a metal pipe for Luke to latch onto. When he did so, she pulled as hard as she could, locking them in place and allowing Han to line up his shot. Firing wildly into the water once he was sure he wouldn't hit Luke, sometime must have connected when the tentacle went limp and fell away.

"I-is it dead?" Han asked as he stared at the murky waters dubiously.

"I think so." Luke said unsurely, his attention was drawn to the walls when a creak sounded from them.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

The audience shivered, knowing too well that it is...

As soon as the words were uttered, the walls began closing in as the trash compactor started up… with them still stuck in the middle of it all.

"The walls are closing in!" Luke said.

"You think?" Rex, Ahsoka and Caleb said at the same time.

"Don't just stand there, try and brace it with something!" Leia said, lifting up a long metal pipe. Han took it from her and easily lifted it over his head, holding it in place to brace against the walls. Luke suddenly remembered his communicator.

"Threepio! Threepio! Come in, Threepio!" he yelled into it.His cries went underheard however. Threepio had left the communicator on the control console and was nowhere to be seen when the door to the control room was forcefully unlocked and Stormtroopers swarmed in. They began checking the bodies and heard a metallic tapping behind them. The opened one of the doors to find Threepio and Artoo behind it.

"They're madmen!" Threepio cried, "They're headed for the prison level! If you hurry you might catch them!" His half-truth worked and the squad left a single man to stand guard. He took the communicator and deactivated it, motioning to Artoo to follow him. When he noticed the guard, he halted. With a glance at Artoo, a plan came to mind, though it went against most of his programming.

"Anytime now, Artoo...", Anakin urged the little droid as the audience continued to be tensed at this pivotal moment.

Luke kept trying the communicator as the walls finally met the pipe Han was holding. He tried to hold it steady, but was unable to keep it from bending under the hydraulic pressure.

Artoo and Threepio were back outside the hangar, looking for the others.

"They're not here. Something must have happened to them." Threepio said, turning to Artoo, "See if they've been captured." Artoo plugged into a nearby terminal, whining as he checked.

"One thing's for sure" Han said, accepting the reality of the situation, "We're all gonna be a whole lot thinner. Get on top off it!", he told Leia."I'm working on it!"

Artoo whistled upon finishing his search.

"Thank goodness they haven't been captured. But where could they be?" Artoo whistled again. "The commlink? Oh, I forgot, I turned it off." He pulled it out and reactivated it. "Are you there, sir?"

"THREEPIO?!""We've had some problems- "he tried to explain before Luke cut him off."Will you shut up and listen to me!" he yelled through gritted teeth. He was now caught between all the trash and it was starting to crush him.

The audience were taken back at Luke's sudden outburst, though they can't blame him of his situation. Anakin likewise began to see himself at the sight.

"Shut down all the garbage smashers on the detention level, got it?" He yelled the command several times, hoping the urgency in his voice would speed things up. It did.

"No, no, shut them all down! Hurry!" Threepio told Artoo. He worked as fast as he could to save his master's life.

It looked like he wouldn't be fast enough when the walls suddenly halted. The group cheered, though Threepio mistook the joyful cheering for screams of pain.

"Oh no, listen to them, R2 they're dying! Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough! It's all my fault!"

The audience laughed at the protocol droid's oblivious reaction.

"Threepio, we're alright!" Luke told him trough the commlink. "We're alright! You did great! Ha haaaa! Hey get us out of here, will ya? Open the pressure maintenance hatch on- where are we?"

"326-3827!" Han yelled as he hugged Leia, who hugged him back.

"Well, that was tense." Rex sighed in relief.

"I know right? I'm starting to like both Han and Leia. They look good together!", Ahsoka stated with Anakin shuddering at the thought.

Ben continued along the corridor, keeping his lightsaber handy in case he needed it. he turned a corner onto a catwalk over a deep pit with a generator attached off the side. Carefully, hugging the side of the generator, he crept to the far side where he began the work of deactivating the tractor beam.

Outside the trash compactor, Han and Luke had shed their Stormtrooper disguises, keeping the belts and the weapon.

"Well, we can just avoid any more female advice, we ought to be able to get out of here." Han said, with a pointed look at Leia, who scowl-smiled back.

All the females in the audience frowned at the smuggler's comment.

"Well, let's get moving!." Luke said. A loud noise came from the garbage masher. Chewie growled at the sound and moved to investigate.

"Where're you going?" Han said. When Chewie refused to even speak, he scoffed and shot the trash. "Come 'ere ya big coward." Chewie shook his head. "Chewie, get over here!"

"Listen," Leia hissed, "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. okay?" She walked off, leaving Han with his mouth hanging open to catch up.

"Listen your worshipfulness," Han said once he had found his voice, "Let's get something straight, I take orders from exactly one person: me."

'Just as every smuggler or pirate would say...', everyone thought.

"It's a wonder you're still alive." Leia said sarcastically. "Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?"

"That was mean" Ahsoka said with a pout.

"No reward is worth this." Han complained out loud.

As Ben was working on the tractor beam generator, a squad of troopers entered the same room. Hearing them coming, he quickly adjusted a dial to make it appear as though the generator was still operating correctly."Give me regular reports." The leader told the two men he set to stand guard.

As the guards made small talk, Ben finished his work and walked around to the side opposite from the troopers. Using the Force, he made the troopers think they heard something behind them. When they turned to inspect, he quietly made a break for the exit.And that is when he stopped as he saw a very familiar face, an old memory from years ago, his breathing alone making him tense.

"Oh no...", Anakin muttered, knowing who Obi-Wan has ran into this time. The audience present were struck silent at the sight of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi about to face Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, destroyer of the Jedi, and the murderer of Anakin Skywalker.

Vader stood in front of him menacingly, before activating his lightsaber, a red blade coming to life. Obi-Wan likewise ignited his own blue blade, ready to fight the Dark Lord once more.