Howdy everyone! I bring another chapter, very late I know, but it is here, and I'm hoping more will follow soon.
Enjoy! and look forward to hearing your thoughts!
"Mighty Jabba, your terms are far too onerous," Thrawn appealed in mock disbelief. "I implore you to be reasonable. You are a man of your word, and your word was given at a certain price."
"Do you know how many men I've lost?" Jabba's cavernous voice rose up in outrage. "Half of the reward for capturing them would be spent on replacing the men they've killed!"
"The Empire offered you assistance, Jabba, which YOU chose to turn down. You made a gamble, and it didn't pay off. These sorts of things happen. I am willing to leave a garrison of Stormtroopers with you until you're able to replenish your forces."
The slug's gem-like eyes tightened as he brought Thrawn into focus. The Chiss remained perfectly serene. It was in times such as these that he enjoyed having Darth Vader as his trump card.
Jabba's patience was wearing thin. This entire business with the Jedi, the Rebels, and the Empire had put a significant strain on his whole operation. If he didn't net himself a large amount of credits for his troubles, what was even the point of going through all this?
Luke and Mara watched Thrawn and Jabba carefully. They each tried to pull and pry at their restraints to see if they had any give, but so far, no luck. Luke tried to shoot Owen and Beru a reassuring look, but their eyes were firmly fixed downwards. Boba Fett was poised over them, ready to strike if Luke did anything suspicious.
Meanwhile, on one of the other skiffs, Ezra Bridger and Crix Madine were also trying to find a way to free themselves. They had the fewest mercenaries guarding them which was their only advantage.
"Do you think the Empire will give Jabba what he wants?" Ezra asked out of nervousness rather than actual curiosity.
"In a negotiation with those two?" Crix asked rhetorically, pointing at Vader and Thrawn. "Not a chance."
Sure enough, Jabba's comments didn't seem to faze the Grand Moff.
"Mighty Jabba, this is quite embarrassing for you," Thrawn spoke with ruthless civility. "Think about your reputation! The leader of the Hutt clan reneging on a business transaction? Is this truly the dune you wish to die on?"
Jabba's mood had gone from boisterous to stern, to suspicious. He pushed himself close to the edge of his barge, which was less imposing since Thrawn was too far away to be towered over.
"Is that a threat?" Jabba gurgled.
"Just verbiage," Thrawn replied with a dismissive handwave. "My position on this is final. Please tell me where you stand so we may expedite any further negotiations."
The implication was clear to everyone, on either side of the Sarlacc pit. The Rebels who weren't frozen in carbonite shared urgent gazes, while Jabba's mercenaries and Vader's Stormtroopers gripped their weapons tighter.
Boba did not flinch. He kept his attention on Luke, finger ready on the kill switch.
The music inside the barge had died down, allowing an eerie silence to take over, which was quickly replaced by the hum of distant winds rolling over the Great Mesra plateau. All eyes were on Jabba. The Hutt would be lying if he said he did not enjoy being able to start a battle with a single word…
"Bring out the hostages!" Jabba announced dramatically.
Boba almost did a double-take when he heard this. All eyes turned towards him and the two people he was standing guard over. The bounty hunter did not like where this was going.
"This isn't part of our deal, Jabba," he warned the Hutt.
"I'll triple your rate!" the Hutt coughed aggressively. "Now be quiet and do as I say!"
I hate Hutts…
Despite the urge to say it out loud, Boba held back and brought Owen and Beru to the front of his skiff, in view of Thrawn and Vader. He saw Luke getting restless in his peripheral vision but focused his attention on the task at hand.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" Thrawn asked in genuine confusion. "Please don't tell me you'll execute two vagrants if we don't agree to your terms."
This brought a smile to Jabba's face, followed by a low chuckle. Thrawn just stayed stoic, expecting the Hutt to elucidate him soon enough; arrogance was the best informant.
"I'm sure you'll appreciate the elegance of this solution, Grand Moff," Jabba said cryptically. "Kill them!"
"NO!"
All eyes now shifted to Luke, whose cry was loud enough to be heard in Anchorhead. Two mercenaries tried to push him down, but Luke stayed firmly on his feet.
"Please, don't hurt them!" Luke's plea was tense with raw emotion. "The Alliance will triple whatever they're offering!"
Thrawn quickly understood the gist of what was going on. He kept his expression serene, despite Jabba's dung-eating grin.
"The Alliance has offered triple, Grand Moff," the Hutt spoke in an almost sing-song voice. "Do you have a counteroffer?"
Thrawn took a moment, observing this elaborate holochess board that lay before him. He slowly gazed over every piece, gazing into the eyes of those that looked his way, seeing if he could glean some crucial detail that might have escaped him.
To everyone's surprise, including his own, Thrawn turned away to speak to Vader. The Sith Lord leaned in to hear the Chiss' whisper:
"If you attacked now, how confident are you that you could prevent those two farmers from being killed?"
"They are irrelevant," Vader replied unequivocally. "Have you lost your nerve?"
"It isn't mindless sentimentality," Thrawn replied, leaning right up into Vader's face to underscore his point. "They mean something to that boy. And as you've pointed out several times, he lacks maturity and rationality. If they die, he explodes, and we lose any semblance of control over this exchange."
"Your need for control has become a compulsion, Thrawn," Vader said with a sneer. "Give the order and I will put an end to this mindless charade."
Thrawn cast his attention back to the escalating standoff. He took in every detail one more time, still looking for a better option. He saw Ezra Bridger and Crix Madine glaring back at him. He saw Mara Jade's gaze oscillating between Luke, Boba Fett, and the carbonite prisoners. The Sarlacc squealed and reached out its tentacles toward the skiffs. A blue R2 unit carried a serving platter that sidled up next to Jabba…
Thrawn even allowed himself to pick up less important details: the faint scent of manure from some Bantha's upwind; the crushing dry heat that seeped the moisture out of his every pore; a blaster being tuned; a sand grain in someone's eye; the rattling of slave chains; a single bead of sweat…
Oh well…
"Negotiations are over," Thrawn announced curtly. "Open fire!"
The following seconds, as expected, were complete and utter mayhem. The Stormtroopers unloaded their weapons first, taking out some of Jabba's men before they could return fire.
At the same time, Boba had a crucial moment of hesitation between terminating Han and Leia or terminating Owen and Beru, which allowed Luke to reach out through the Force and halt his arm that was about to hit the kill switches. The bounty hunter fought hard against the invisible grip of the Force, while Luke focused solely on not letting that grip loosen.
Mara acted at the same time as Luke. She used all her strength to jump from her skiff to the one that held Han and Leia, using the Force to propel her further. She transferred all that momentum right into the face of a mercenary who was guarding the slab of carbonite. Before the other guards could react, her hands flew to the emergency release lever which immediately dissolved the carbonite shell around Han and Leia.
While Thrawn carefully backed away to stay out of the line of fire, Vader took his time igniting his lightsaber, being careful to temper his power so as to keep the destruction minimal.
But before he could jump into the fray, one final player that no one expected made its dramatic entrance: a Krayt Dragon! The beast sprang from the dunes a hundred feet away from the Sarlacc Pitt, kicking up a hail of sand that blinded everyone for a few seconds.
Everyone was stopped in their tracks, then some noticed that two people appeared to be riding the ferocious beast.
"Ahsoka!" Ezra cried out in disbelief. "Master Yoda!"
"Incredible…" Crix Madine whispered, awestruck.
Using the Force to magnify her momentum, Ahsoka propelled herself off the dragon's back to land next to Mara, cutting down two guards before her feet touched the ground. Han and Leia were safely unfrozen, though heavily crippled by carbon sickness.
Two mercenaries raised their rifles, but Ahsoka sent them flying off the skiff with a powerful Force push. Their flailing bodies were quickly snatched up by the restless Sarlacc's tentacles and consumed with a sickening crunch.
Ahsoka was about to dispatch the final guard on the skiff until he urgently threw off his helmet and waved his hands for her to stop.
"Woah, kid! I'm with you!" Lando Calrissian said in a panic. "My name's Lando. Han and Luke can vouch for me."
"He's telling the truth," Mara confirmed since Ahsoka did not look entirely convinced.
"We could have used your help much sooner," she said disapprovingly.
"Yeah, well someone had to make sure that Han and Leia's kill switch was deactivated," Lando tried to keep his tone courteous as blaster bolts were whizzing over their heads. "Sorry if summoning giant sand lizards isn't in my repertoire."
Ahsoka managed a small smile at Lando's antics. He was slippery, no doubt about it, but his heart seemed to be in the right place.
"Alright, Lando, good to have you with us," she said congenially while deflecting blaster bolts back toward their enemies. "Can you pilot this thing?"
"That, I most certainly can do," he replied with a fancy curtsy.
As Lando took over the pilot's chair, Ahsoka went over to Mara who was looking over Han and Leia.
"How are they?" Ahsoka asked.
"Oh, fantastic," Han managed to mumble. "I can't see, and my limbs feel like noodles."
"What he said," Leia managed to slur out.
"So carbonite was the answer for you to start mellowing out," Lando quipped from behind the steering yolk.
"Oh, blast… someone shoot him," Han pleaded.
"It should all wear off in time," Mara reassured them as Ahsoka finally sliced off her restraints with her lightsaber.
Yoda was doing his best to keep the Krayt Dragon under his control, but his mind trick could only do so much. The Sarlacc's tentacles wrapped around the dragon's legs and the gunners onboard Jabba's barge fired at the beast, which only enrage it further.
Majestic, you are, Yoda spoke in the dragon's mind. Relinquish my hold over your mind, I do.
And with that, Yoda severed his connection to the Krayt Dragon and jumped off its back, landing on Thrawn's transport ship, right in front of the Grand Moff and Darth Vader.
As the dragon began to rampage against the Sarlacc, Yoda coolly considered the two men in front of him, unperturbed by the Stormtroopers who had their weapons trained on him.
"Master Yoda," Vader stated simply, being careful to disguise his anticipation. He never thoughts he would get the chance to duel the former Grand Master of the Jedi Order.
"Hmmm… finally see the extent of your folly, I do," Yoda said, shifting his gaze to Thrawn as the latter moved closer. "And you… long ago, visited your home world, I did. Beautiful and mighty, your people are."
"I heard amazing stories about your former Jedi Order," Thrawn spoke with a degree of deference he usually only reserved for the Emperor. "It pained me when I heard how it met its end. I've dedicated my entire existence to ensuring my people's safety. I can only imagine how you must have felt when you could not do the same for yours."
Yoda could detect empathy in Thrawn's words, but they held very little weight.
"A genocide against our order, your Empire has committed. Slaughtered our younglings, you did," Yoda spoke as he picked his lightsaber off his belt, directing his attention from Thrawn to Vader. "Ransack our temple, you have. Nearly wiped us out, you had. But still alive, we are. And scare us, you do not."
"Then let us rectify this," Vader said before lunging at Yoda with a downward strike.
Thrawn carefully backed away from the action, as Yoda and Vader crossed blades. Both fighters were cautious, testing each other's defenses, not committing to any aggressive moves.
Meanwhile, Lando was ready to fly their skiff away, while Ahsoka made sure Han and Leia were secured near the end of the skiff. Mara was now looking to get back into the fray, only to be stopped by Ahsoka's firm hand on her shoulder.
"We have to get back to the castle and free the others!" Ahsoka yelled over the sounds of the Sarlacc and Krayt dragon. "Then find a ship and get the hell out of here!"
"We can't just leave them here!" Mara responded, seeing Luke was still wrestling with Boba.
Before she could finish talking, they saw Ezra driving the other skiff toward them with a terrified look in his eye. As he pulled up close to them, Mara and Ahsoka's stomachs sank when they saw Crix Madine lying on the ground with two blaster wounds in his chest.
"He… he saved my life," Ezra mumbled as he helped Crix onto the other skiff. "His breathing's shallow, I— I."
"Lando, hand me the medkit!" Ahsoka said as she and Ezra tried to make Crix comfortable.
"I'm not a priority," Crix muttered through gritted teeth. "Luke and Yoda have to be brought back safely."
"Our plan is to get everyone back, general," Ahsoka said as she tore open the medkit that Lando gave her. "We're heading back to the palace to get the others."
Ahsoka cast a meaningful look at Mara, as if to say 'please. He won't make it otherwise.'
Mara wanted to stay, but her soldier's sense told her that she was needed here. This was not an operation that had been meticulously planned out and studied weeks in advance. This was survival.
"Alright," she said solemnly. "Let's go."
"Hang on!" Lando ordered before turning the steering yolk hard and accelerating towards Jabba's palace.
Luke watched as the skiff that carried Han and Leia sped away. He smiled when he saw Lando behind the wheel and Mara onboard. At least they were all safe.
"Eyes forward, Jedi!" Boba growled before headbutting Luke off of him.
"R2 now!" Luke called out to his trusty droid who fired out his lightsaber from a hidden compartment. "Get yourself somewhere safe!"
Luke snatched his lightsaber out of the air and ignited the yellow blade. The mercenaries around him eyed him nervously, no one willing to be the first to engage him.
"Get out of here," Boba growled as he got to his feet. "He's mine."
The mercs did not need to be told twice. They quickly scuttled away and jumped off the skiff into the soft sand below.
"What are you doing, Boba?!", Jabba's voice echoed from the barge. The large slug was trying to keep calm despite the pandemonium unfolding around him.
"Shut up, you worthless slug!" Boba called out to his now-former employer. "It's because of your own greed and arrogance that we're in this mess. If I'm still alive after this… I'll kill you."
Jabba was shocked into silence, but Boba did not care. He focused his gaze back on Luke, who had his eyes locked on Owen and Beru. They were huddled behind Boba's feet with looks of sheer terror and desperation.
"I've got nothing against you or these two, kid," Boba said carefully, hand hovering over the kill switch. "Surrender to the Empire, and they'll live. You have my word."
"The word of a bounty hunter?" Luke gave a dismissive laugh. "I'll take the word of a Jawa."
"That's fair," Boba acknowledged. "Let's start with a trade. You put down your lightsaber and I'll release one of them. Once Vader gets over here, I'll release the other."
Luke paused. His eyes darted from Boba, to his aunt and uncle, to Yoda and Vader dueling. There had to be another way…
"I've got principles, kid, but don't test me," Boba growled, inching his finger closer to the kill switch. "Put down the laser sword, or they die."
If there was a better way, Luke couldn't see it. And he would not take a gamble on the lives of his only family. Despite every fiber of his being going against it, he shut off his lightsaber and let it drop to the floor.
"Kick it away."
Luke did as he was told.
"Now, as promised I'll—"
Boba was interrupted by a sudden beeping sound coming from his wrist computer. When he looked down, a sinking feeling settled in his stomach: the kill switch had been activated.
The bounty hunter immediately looked up towards the barge and saw Jabba's twisted face smiling maliciously back at him.
Damn it…
There was nothing anyone could do. Within three seconds of the kill switch being triggered, a high-powered laser coursed through the collars around Owen and Beru's necks. Their deaths were instant. They didn't even realize it had happened. Both were gone by the time their bodies hit the cold durasteel hull of the skiff.
Boba barely had time to look at Luke, before his lightsaber impaled him. The young Jedi's eyes were seething with rage through emerging tears. He held Boba's gaze as he drove his lightsaber further into his lung.
"You… you…" Luke was struggling to find the words but Boba knew what he wanted to say. He'd heard those words many times before; the resentment, the anger, the hatred…
"I know, kid," Boba managed to speak despite his waning consciousness. "I hope this makes you feel better."
Turning away from Luke, Boba took a final look at the 'Mighty Hutt's' poodo-eating grin. Slowly, Boba started to grin as well when his tracking dot finally found its target. And with a simple voice command:
"Launch!"
The rocket on Boba's jetpack ignited. It only took a moment for it to meet Jabba's no-longer-grinning face. The explosion rocked the entire barge, and the whole vessel began to teeter and slowly sink into the dunes.
Boba felt the lightsaber disappear from his chest and without anything supporting him, the bounty hunter crumbled to the floor, right next to Owen and Beru.
Luke towered over him, fists clenched, eyes shrouded in shadow. It brought a memory back that Boba hadn't expected, which made him chuckle grimly.
"I guess it runs in the family," he managed to whisper. "Getting killed by Jedi…"
As far as last words, Boba had heard far worse, and he was satisfied with his. He'd often heard people say he was a hard man to kill, but it turns out dying was easy: all he had to do was close his eyes.
Boba Fett's body slumped over in its final resting place. Luke stared down at the bounty hunter for longer than he expected; as if something intangible kept him from turning away.
He let his lightsaber slip out of his hand as he dropped to his knees: he had failed. And he had no one to blame but himself. His own arrogance had gotten his aunt and uncle killed.
I thought I could take on anything the Empire threw at me…
The anger and rage and hatred he had felt towards Boba had lasted a few fleeting seconds before being replaced by the deepest sorrow he had ever experienced in his entire life. His aunt Beru, his uncle Owen, people who had raised him as their own son since he was a baby, given him all the love and attention a child deserves, been patient with him even when he maybe didn't deserve it, and always acted with his best interest at heart… he would never see them again. Luke no longer had any family in the whole entire galaxy: he was all alone…
Yoda had done his best to keep Vader at bay, but the Dark Lord was getting bolder with his attacks, pressing the old master closer and closer to the edge of the transport. Yoda could not sustain this level of exertion much longer.
"You have failed, Yoda," Vader admonished. "I will finish what the Emperor could not and finally kill you!"
"Hmmm… His failure, you are doomed to repeat."
Drawing upon his unparalleled connection to the Force, Yoda called out to both the Sarlaac and Krayt Dragon who ceased their brawl in perfect unison and turned their attention towards the Jedi Master.
Time, you must buy us…
His voice had an immediate effect on the creatures. The Sarlaac's tentacles ensnared the Imperial transport ship, while the Krayt Dragon lunged at the vehicle. Yoda launched himself over the beast's head, out of harm's way. Vader could only let out a loud growl of frustration as his attention became focused on the shuttle-sized reptile that wanted to eat him.
It only took a few jumps from skiff to skiff before Yoda was by Luke's side. What he saw deeply saddened him, but he had to push those feelings aside. The only way he could honor Owen and Beru's deaths was by making sure their nephew escaped safely.
"Skywalker!"
His call landed on deaf ears. Luke had completely dissociated from everything around him; Yoda only sensed grief and pain emanating from him.
He could no longer wait. Vader was already managing to drive away the Krayt Dragon. Yoda jumped behind the steering controls, perused the levers and switches before accelerating the skiff at maximum speed towards Jabba's palace.
As the site of the battle receded into the distance, Yoda looked at Luke who still had not moved from his kneeling position. What worried the old master most was that he appeared to have completely cut himself off from the Force; he could sense absolutely nothing emanating from Luke.
Hmmm… be strong, young Skywalker, Yoda reflected. This war, much more will it try to take from you.
Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter will be out much sooner this time... promise :)