Chapter 43: Star Wars : Chapter 43: Cloud City III
"Stormtroopers?" he said, his mind catching up to him. "Here? We're in danger! I must tell the others! Oh no! I've been shot!"
"He could've warned them...", Padmé grimaced.
...
Meanwhile, Han was strapped into a vertical bench by a pair of Stormtroopers before a machine that looked like it was meant to do less than comfortable things to people, all the while with Vader supervising. Slowly, Han was lowered before the machine, and outside, Lando and Boba waited as his screams echoed through the door.
The audience grimaced, not wanting to imagine what kind of torture they gave to Han. By the way he screamed, they don't really want to know.
"Lord Vader." Lando said as Vader exited the room, his height forcing him to duck, and pushing past him to speak to Boba.
"You may take Captain Solo to Jabba the Hutt after I have Skywalker." he told him.
"He's no good to me dead." Boba reminded him.
Rex flinched at hearing the son of the original template of those words, as if he was watching himself on-screen.
"He will not be permanently damaged." Vader assured.
"I really don't like the sound of that." Caleb whined.
"I'm afraid for him." Ahsoka agreed.
"Lord Vader, what about Leia and the Wookie?" Lando asked over Han's continued screaming.
"They must never again leave this city." he said.
"That was never a condition of our agreement, nor was handing Han over to this bounty hunter!"
"Perhaps you think you're being treated unfairly?" Vader said, towering over Lando.
"Lando never wanted to do this to Han or his group. Vader's intimidation coerced him", Shaak Ti realized.
Lando was smart enough to see where this was going. "No." he growled.
"Good." Vader said, backing off, "It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here."
The doors of Vader's elevator closed. Boba turned on his heel and walked off, while Lando fumed in place before turning and growling at himself. "This deal is getting worse all the time."
"And now you know how every planet negotiating with scoundrels feels." Mace said snidely.
"Oh yes, that's very good. I like that." Threepio said as Cheaie was working on the panel on his back. "Oh! Well, something's not right because now I can't see."
Chewie scowled and messed with his neck a little. "Oh, oh, oh, that's much better. Now if we could just fix the part where I'm backwards things would- " Chewie immediately hit his off button.
Suddenly, the door opened and a pair of Stormtroopers walked in carrying Han on their shoulders. They set him down on his knees in the middle of the room and walked out as he fell, catching himself at the last second. Once Chewie was sure they were gone, he helped Han to his feet.
"I feel terrible." Han said where Chewie growled in reply.
Chewie pushed a button on the wall and a bench came out where he lay down Han on his back.
The door opened again, and this time Leia was pushed in. She stumbled, but quickly recovered and ran to Han's side.
"Why are they doing this?" she asked no one in particular as she stroked Han.
"They never even asked me any questions." Han said.
"Lando." Leia said as the door opened again and the man in question entered. With a grunt, Han propped himself up as best he could.
"He has a lot of nerve coming to them", Rex uttered.
"He has his reasons why. And I couldn't blame him", Anakin understood his situation
"Get out of here, Lando." Han said weakly.
"Shut up and listen!" Lando shot back. "Vader's agreed to turn Leia and Chewie over to me. 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."
"Vader wants us all dead."
"He doesn't want you at all! He's after someone called Skywalker."
Anakin widened his eyes in horror, he didn't want Luke to be near Vader, not with incomplete training.
"Luke?" Han sat up a bit straighter.
"Vader's set a trap for him."
"And we're the bait!" Leia concluded, her mind racing.
"Just as Masters Yoda and Kenobi warned Luke", Master Mundi realized. "This cannot end well for him..."
Meanwhile, Anakin held his temples, deseperately praying to the Force to help his son.
"He's on his way."
"Perfect," Han growled, standing up weakly, "You fixed us all real good, didn't you? My friend." he swung out and caught Lando on the chin, but fell forward with him in the attempt.
"Stop!" Lando ordered when the Imperial guards pulled their blaster pistols and leveled them at the prisoners. He got back up and dusted himself off. "I've done all I can. I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but I got my own problems to deal with."
"Yeah, you're a real hero." Han said sarcastically.
"You have a way with people." Leia said, as she and Chewie helped han back to his feet.
Deep within Cloud City, Vader was overseeing the final preparations for his trap for Luke, with Lando accompanying him.
"This facility is crude," Vader commented, "but it should be adequate to freeze Skywalker for his journey to the Emperor."
"Freeze Luke? like Carbonite?" Ahsoka inquired.
"It may be so...", Rex confirmed, remembering the one time they froze themselves in Carbonite to infiltrate the Citadel.
"Lord Vader!" one of his officers called out as he approached, "Ship approaching, X-Wing class."
"Luke, turn back now...", Anakin lowly uttered, fearing the worst for Luke.
"Good. Monitor Skywalker and allow him to land."
"Lord Vader," Lando said when the officer left, "We only use this facility for carbon freezing. You put him in there, it might kill him."
"I do not want the Emperor's prize damaged. We will test it on Captain Solo."
A few minutes later, Han, Leia, and Chewie, who was bearing a half-completed Threepio on his back, were escorted to the freezing chamber by Boba and a squad of stormtroopers. Threepio complained to Chewie about his current position, but he ignored him, focused solely on Han as he and Leia moved to stand next to Lando.
"What's going on,buddy?" Han asked angrily as Vader descended into the facility.
"You're being put into carbon freeze." he replied.
"What if he doesn't survive?" Boba asked of Vader, "He's worth a lot to me."
"The Empire will compensate you if he dies." Vader assured him. "Put him in."
Chewie roared at this. He nearly started throwing punches but for Han stepping in to stop him.
"Chewie, stop! Stop!" Han shouted at him. "Chewie, listen to me!"
"Chewie, this won't help me. Save your strength. There'll be another time." A Stormtrooper clapped a pair of binders on Chewie's wrists for safety. "The princess; you have to take care of her. You hear me?"
The audience were saddened at Han's proclamation and plea to his best friend. Despite starting out as a smuggler and his attempts to clear things out with Jabba, Han's bond of his friends and his love for Leia is what defined him the most.
Some of the females weeped a few tears of their eyes for Han, while the men resisted to shed any. Anakin even looked saddened to see what would happen to Solo. Even if he didn't like him, Han didn't deserve this fate, not after everything he had done for his friends.
Han sighed and looked down at Leia before smashing their lips together passionately. The kiss was broken when a pair of Stormtroopers each grabbed one of Han's arms and pulled him into position.
"I love you." Leia proclaimed to him.
"I know." Han replied stoically.
And now, some were sobbing lightly at the last interaction they had for now, cursing why fate had to be cruel sometimes.
The platform he stood on was then lowered into the freezing machine and the last thing they saw of Han Solo was his face shifting to fear before he was blasted by thick cold smoke that rose out of the machine.
A large, thick metal claw descended into the machine and Chewie wailed in grief. The platform Han had stood on came back up to reveal the renegade frozen in a solid block of greyish stone, his face contorted in preparation for pain and his hands raised defensively. Neither Leia nor Chewie had seen Han look so vulnerable. Her slab fell backwards with such a thud, Chewie and Leia held each other for support.
"They've encased him in carbonite." Theepio said as he finally got a good look at what had happened behind him. "He should be very well protected, if he survived the freezing process, of course."
"Thanks for the re-assurance, Threepio. And he will.", Ahsoka commented.
Lando walked to the opposite side of the slab from Leia and Chewie and checked a small panel on the side of the slab.
"Well, Calrissian," Vader asked, "Did he survive?"
"Yes, he's alive," Lando answered grimly, "And in perfect hibernation."
"He's all yours, bounty hunter." Vader said to Boba, before turning to his men. "Reset the chamber for Skywalker."
The same officer from before walked into the chamber and up to Vader. "Skywalker has just landed, my Lord."
Anakin would feel his heart beating at a fast rate and out of fear. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, two of the most important people of his life, had fought the Dark Lord and failed. He couldn't bare to see his own son falling to Vader or Palpatine at that matter.
Obi-Wan held his former apprentice's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.
"Good. See to it that she finds her way in here. Calrissian," he walked up to Lando when he took Leia's arm and Chewie growled, "Take the princess and the Wooki to my ship."
"You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision." Lando argued.
"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further." Vader said threateningly.
The audience were then by this time, fuming to the Sith Lord for all that he is.
Lando glared at the Dark Lord's back. He looked to the frozen form of Han, then to Chewie and Leia, still clutching each other and released an angry sigh.
"Is this rebellion I'm seeing?" Shaak-Ti said.
"In his defense, Vader proved to be a unnegotiable tyrant and he owe him nothing." Mace said, crossing his arms. "He has done everything he wanted, and that's what he got. So, yes, rebellion is in order."
Luke walked carefully and quietly through the halls of Cloud City, Artoo following him. He had been on edge since he landed. The whole place seemed deserted, and no one had approached him when he touched down. He had taken off his flight suit, and was dressed in the clothes he had worn on Dagobah, his lightsaber clipped to his belt and his blaster pistol at the ready.
Meanwhile, Boba led the frozen form of Han back to his ship, escorted by a pair of Imperial technicians and Stormtroopers.
Luke heard them coming and hid around the corner from them. When they passed, he followed after. He was about to round another corner when Boba popped out and fired at him. Luke managed to make it back into cover, but the shots were heard by Leia's group, led by Lando and another squad of stormtroopers. Lando took advantage of the distraction to use the small control pad built into her wrist communicator to send instructions to his cybernetic lieutenant.
Luke ran down the hall Boba went and ran into Leia's escort. The officer in charge ordered the Stormtroopers to suppress her while he pushed Leia and Chewie forward.
"Luke!" Leia yelled out as the officer pushed her through a doorway. "Luke, don't! It's a trap!"
Ignoring her, Luke followed after them, his path leading right into the freezing chamber. His exit locked behind him and the lights in the room came on fully.
"This cannot be good...", Kit Fisto whispered to his fellow rest had to admit as well, seeing that Luke has not completed his training.
"Hasn't been, Master Fisto...", Anakin interjected, his eyes fixated at the Dark Lord in front of him. The memories of Obi-Wan and Ahsoka from the future coming back to him.
"The Force is with you, young Skywalker." Vader intoned as he stood at the top of the stairs before the freezing pit. "But you are not a Jedi yet."
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