2,218Here we are again. Gonna try and update as much as I can. Just have to deal with several job applications and some IDs
Chapter 47: The Execution, Part 1
Threepio peeked out from behind the throne as Bib walked up. For the first time in many days, he scanned his hope program. "Ah! At last Master Luke's come to take me away from all this," he beamed. Bib stood proudly before Jabba. "Master, I present Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight."
"Someone might get demoted...", Rex quipped at the furious look in Jabba's face.
"Let's not be so confident at that, Captain", Ahsoka chimed in, a bit humorously. "Who knows, maybe it's the other way around"
"I told you not to admit him," the gangster-slug growled in Huttese.
"I must be allowed to speak," Luke spoke quietly,though his words were heard throughout the hall.
"He must be allowed to speak," Bib concurred, only for Jabba to bash Bib across the face and sent him reeling to the floor. "You weak-minded fool! He's using an old Jedi mind trick!"
Master Mundi cupped his chin. "For someone who is as depraved and disgusting, we could say that Jabba had a keen eye and a strong mind to compensate for him", he commented, albeit reluctantly.
"Having to manage a cartel for countless years would certainly gift him that experience", Plo Koon agreed with him.
Luke let all the rest of the motley horde that surrounded him melt into the recesses of his consciousness, to let Jabba fill his mind totally. "You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee to me."
Jabba smiled grimly. "Your mind powers will not work on me, boy. I am not affected by your human thought pattern." Then, as an after thought: "I was killing your kind when being a Jedi meant something."
The audience could not help but relent on Master Mundi's earlier sentiments regarding the crime lord having a strong mind but still frowned at his statements to Luke, especially considering that the Jedi are a rarity in this future. "Something that you are too drowned ito your vices to even understand", Obi-Wan remarked in contempt.
"But since Luke couldn't get through Jabba's head, what could he do since he's inside of a fortress?", Caleb asked.
"Have faith, young Padawan", Yoda advised him, confident of Skywalker's son and anticipating on what he could possibly do. "Foiled the first step they may have, another one takes place"
Luke altered his stance somewhat, internally and externally. "Nevertheless, I am taking Captain Solo and his friends. You can either profit from this... or be destroyed. It's your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate my powers." He spoke in his own language, which Jabba well understood.
"Master Kenobi's art of negotiation sprinkled with Senator Amidala's talent of diplomacy has certainly took its form", Saesee Tiin observed, sounding impressed on the young Jedi Knight's gestures at the Crime Lord.
"Perhaps if he have the right training, Luke would be a fine diplomat for the Republic should he ever choose", Master Fisto suggested.
Anakin blinked momentarily as his son's words caused him to have images on what he had seen earlier, and something he was not so proud off. You underestimate my power!", his voice echoed, causing him to flinch at the memory flashing before him. "I just hope Luke didn't inherit too much of me in this case...", he mumbled.
Jabba laughed the laugh of a lion, cautioned by a mouse. Threepio, who had been observing this interplay intently, leaned forward to whisper to Luke: "Master, you're standing—"
A guard abruptly restrained the concerned droid, though,and pulled himback to his place. Jabba cut short his laugh with a scowl. "There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die."
The Jedi were now focused, seeing the scenario taking its turn for the worse. Immediately, all eyes were on the Jedi Knight, as Padme and Anakin tensed at the confrontation.
Luke raised his hand. A pistol jumped out of the holster of a nearby guard and landed snugly in the Jedi's palm. Without any second to spare, the Jedi pointed his weapon at the crime lord.
Jabba spat."Boscka!"
The floor suddenly dropped away, sending Luke and his guard crashing into the pit below. The trap door immediately closed again. All the beasts of the court rushed to the floor-grating and looked down.
"LUKE!", Anakin, Padme and Ahsoka cried out for the teen in dismay. They were sure this wasn't some sort of normal pit judging by the poor slave girl's fate. The rest only watched in anticipated silence, not letting their worry break their focus on the scene.
"Luke!" yelled Leia. She felt part of her self torn away, pulled down into the pit with him. She started forward, but was held in check by the manacle around her throat. Laughter crowded in from everywhere at once, set her on edge. She tried to flee. A human guard touched her shoulder. She looked. It was Lando, who only shook his head.
"I might not like Lando, but at least his heart is in the right place", Anakin spoke, sounding appreciative in the man's efforts to keep Leia safe.
In the pit below, Luke picked himself up off the floor, finding himself in a dungeon. Bones of countless animals were strewn over the floor, smelling of decayed flesh and twisted fear.
Above him, he saw Jabba's courtiers peering. Beside him, a guard screamed as a door in the side of the cave slowly rumbled open. With infinite calm, Luke surveyed his surroundings as he removed his long robe down to his tunic, to give him more freedom of movement. He backed quickly to the wall and crouched there, watching.
"His lack of fear would prove pivotal if he is to pass whatever trial that lies ahead", Windu observed, seeing the boy's posture to befit a Jedi. Which constrated his father's often rash behavior.
"But by the looks of it...he does not have his weapon with him", Saesee keenly observed, seeing that Luke does not have the Jedi's signature weapon at his disposal.
"I remember, when he had fought Va-", Shaak Ti took a pause mid-sentence, noticing a glance from Master Kenobi. "His father, he had lost his weapon along with his right hand"
Out of the side passage emerged the giant Rancor, who roared at his next meal The guard picked up the pistol fromthe dirt where it had fallen and began firing laser bursts at the hideous monster. This only made the beast angrier. It lumbered toward the guard and devoured him whole, to the audience's glee.
"There goes the weapon he needed to get out of there...", Caleb muttered in dismay, before he felt Master Yoda's cane poke his back.
"Impossible to win without a weapon, it is not", he stated, seeing Luke's current situation.
Anakin and Padme only looked in a bit of nostalgia; something familiar had happened to them a few years back. "This takes us back a Geonosis, doesn't it?", the Senator said to her spouse, who looked a bit amused.
"Yeah, I remembered my face being dragged in a floor of sand while Obi-Wan was almost a meal for the Geonosians to watch", he replied.
"I heard that", they both heard Master Kenobi's snide remark.
The Rancor turned and began to rush at Luke, only for the young Jedi to dash away just ahead of the monster's swipe at him, and picked up the long bone of an earlier victim. The monster grabbed Luke and brings him up to his salivating mouth. At the last moment, Luke wedged the bone in the monster's mouth, causing him to be dropped. The monster bellowed in rage and flailed , hitting the side of the pit, causing a small avalanche in the dungeon.
"He is crafty, but he will need to find another way to bring down this beast", Master Fisto stated, eagerly watching the Jedi's methods of escape.
The monster crushed the bone in its jaws and sea saw Luke, who squeezed into a crevice in the pit wall. Luke looked past the monster to the holding cave beyond. On the far side of the holding cave is a utility door-if only he can get to it. The Rancor spotted Luke and reached into the crevice for him. Luke grabbed a large rock and raised it, smashing it down on the Rancor's finger, causing it to howl in pain while Luke rushed for it.
"He has the tools in his disposal to get through this spectacle", Master Windu said after further analyzing the dunegon's layout. "How he would use them remains to be seen"
"He will, Master Windu", Anakin chimed in determination and confidence in his son. "I'm sure of it..."
The Rancor howled as Luke made a run for the holding cave where he reached the door and pushed a button to open it. When he succeeded, he sees a heavy barred gate between him and safety. Beyond the gate two guards look up from their meal. Luke crouched against the wall as the monster started to reach for him. Suddenly he noticed a main door control panel halfway up the wall.
As the Rancor moved in for the kill, Luke picked up a skull from the cave floor and hurls it at the panel. The giant overhead door comes crashing down on the beast's head, killing it indefinitely.
"Quick, resourceful and focused", Luminara applauded the Jedi Knight for his success.
"What did I tell you, Masters? I was certain Luke will get through this", Anakin proclaimed in pride.
Those in the audience above gasped as one, then were silent. They were all truly stunned at this bizarre turn of events. They all looked to Jabba, who was apoplectic with rage. Never had he felt such fury. Leia tried to hide her delight, but was unable to keep fromsmiling, and this increased Jabba's anger even further.
Harshly he snapped at his guards: "Get him out of there. Bring me Solo and the Wookiee. They will all suffer for this outrage." In the pit below, Luke stood calmly as several of Jabba's henchmen ran in, clapped himin bonds, and ushered him out.
"Not much of a graceful loser, are you?", Rex mocked.
"Since when he ever was?", Ahsoka added.
The Rancor keeper wept openly and threwhimself down on the body of his dead pet. Life would be a lonely proposition for himfromthat day. Han and Chewie were led before the steaming Jabba. Han stillsquinted and stumbled every few feet. Threepio stood behind the Hutt, unbearably apprehensive. Jabba kept Leia on a short tether, stroking her hair to try to calm himself.
Anakin breathed in heavily before letting out a sigh as Padme rubbed his shoulder. Obi-Wan only glanced at him when he felt the rising anger within him begin to fade away when he looked at the disgusting scenario before him.
As did the rest of the Jedi, but they remained quiet at that.
With a flurry, several guards—including Lando Calrissian-dragged Luke in across the room. To give them passage, the courtiers parted like an unruly sea. When Luke, too, was standing before the throne, he nudged Solo with a smile. "Good to see you again, old buddy." Solo's face lit up. There seemed to be no end to the number of friends he kept bumping into.
"Luke! Are you in this mess now, too?"
"Wouldn't miss it," Skywalker smiled. For just a moment, he almost felt likea boy again. "Well, how we doing?"
Han raised his eyebrows. "Same as always,"said Luke. "Oh-oh," Solo replied under his breath. He felt one hundred percent relaxed. Just like old times—but a second later,a bleak thought chilled him.
"Where's Leia? Is sh..." Her eyes had been fixed on him from the moment he'd entered the room, though—guarding his spirit with her own. When he spoke of her now, she responded instantly, calling from her place on Jabba's throne. "I'm allright, but I don't know how much longer I can hold off your slobbering friend, here."
"She speaks the way Skywalker would probably have in similar situations such as this...", Depa observed, seeing a pattern, something that the audience got wind as well. "Which is probably why he is fond of her"
Anakin and Padme couldn't help but agree. She sounded and felt like Anakin but neither knew why.
Suddenly Jabba shouted; the entire room was immediately silent."Talk droid!" Timidly, Threepio stepped forward and with an embarrassed, self-effacing head gesture, addressed the captives. "His High Exaltedness, the great Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately."
"Compensating for your losses, then?", Master Fisto commented.
Master Mundi continued to observe the scene further. "Unless this is all part of the plan too...", he uttered.
Solo said loudly,"That's good, I hate long waits..."
"Your extreme offense against His Majesty," Threepio went on, 'demands the most torturous form of death..."
"No sense in doing things halfway," Solo cracked. Jabba could be so pompous, sometimes, and now with old Goldenrod, there, making his pronouncements...
No matter what else, Threepio simply hated being interrupted. He collected himself, nonetheless, and continued. "You will be taken to the Dune Sea, where you will bethrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon—"
Han shrugged, then turned to Luke. "That doesn't sound too bad."
Anakin only sighed while others put a hand onto their foreheads. "And now you jinxed it, Solo"
Threepio ignored the interruption."... the resting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc. In his belly you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you slowly digest for a thousand years.
On second thought we could pass on that," Solo reconsidered. Athousand years wasa bit much. Chewie barked his whole-hearted agreement.
Luke only smiled. "You should have bargained, Jabba. This is the last mistake you'll ever make." Luke was unable to suppress the satisfaction in his voice.
"His confidence would only mean he has another plan for him and his friends to escape", Luminara tried to put two and two together. "Which can be possible outside from a well-fortified garrison like Jabba's palace"
"It would appear so, Master Unduli", Plo Koon realized it too. "Young Skywalker have used Jabba's hubris to his advantage. And now, they would be able to escape."
Anakin couldn't help but be proud of him. Of course, his primary objective was to free his friends, whom he loved dearly; it was this concern that guided his sonnow, above all else. But in the process, to free the universe of this gangster slug—this was a prospect that tinted Luke's purpose with an ever-so-slightly dark satisfaction.
Jabba chortled evilly. "Take them away."At last, a bit of pure pleasure on an otherwise dreary day—feeding the Sarlacc was the only thing he enjoyed as much as feeding the Rancor.
Aloud cheer rose from the crowd as the prisoners were carried off. Leia looked after them with great concern; but when she caught a glimpse of Luke's face she was stirred to see it still fixed in a broad, genuine smile. She sighed deeply, to expel her doubts.
Jabba's giant antigravity Sail Barge glided slowly over the endless Dune Sea. Its sand-blasted iron hullcreaked in the slight breeze, each puff of wind coughing into the two huge sails as if even nature suffered some terminal malaise wherever it came near Jabba. He was below decks, now, with most of his court, hiding the decay of his spirit from the cleansing sun.
Alongside the barge, two small skiffs floated in formation —one an escort craft, bearing six scruffy soldiers; the other, a gun skiff, containing the prisoners:Han, Chewie, Luke. They were all in bonds, and surrounded by armed guards.
Han kept his ear tuned, for his eyes were still useless. He spoke with reckless disregard, to put the guards at ease —to get them used to his talking and moving, so when the time came for himreallyto move, they'd be a critical fraction behind his mark. And, of course—as always—he spoke just to hear himself speak.
"I think my sight is getting better," he said, squinting over the sand. "Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big bright blur."
"Believe me, you're not missing anything." Luke smiled. "I grew up here."
Anakin thought of his youth on Tatooine, living with his mother as slaves in Watto's workshop, working on his Pod-Racer with his few friends. After leaving, all Anakin could remember were bad memories when he returned a few years ago. He had known the place for half of his life already.
He had met Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui Gon Jinn, and Padme Amidala. The people of whom he considered were the closest to his life, especially Master Qui Gon. Despite their short time together. Anakin thought of him now with great respect, and great sorrow. For Qui Gon was, more than anyone, the agent of Anakin's discoveries and losses—and discoveries of losses.
That's how it had all started for Anakin and his future son, here on Tatooine.
"And now we're going to die here," Solo replied. "Convenient"
"I wasn't planning on it," Luke shook himself out of his reverie. "Jabba's palace was too well guarded. I had to get you out of there. Just stay close to Chewie and Lando. We'll take care of everything."
"It seems your observation had been correct, Master Unduli", Plo Koon remarked.
"But still...how?", Caleb asked.
"Only one way to find out, kid", Rex told him,
"I can hardly wait." Solo had a sinking feeling this grand escape depended on Luke's thinking he was a Jedi—a questionable premise at best, considering it was an extinct brotherhood that had used a Force he didn't really believe in anyway. A fast ship and a good blaster are what Han believed in, and he wished he had them now.
Jabba sat in the main cabin ofthe Sail Barge, surrounded by his entire retinue. The party at the palace was simply continuing, inmotion—the result being a slightly wobblier brand of carousing-more in the nature of a prelynching celebration. So blood lust and belligerence were testing newlevels
See Threepio felt this response needed no translation, and took the opportunity to slip to the rear—where he promptly bumped into a small droid serving drinks. The drinks spilled everywhere.
The stubby little droid let out a fluent series of irate beeps, toots, and whistles—recognizable to Threepio instantly. He looked down in utter relief. "Artoo! What are you doing here?"
The droid only let out a few beeps. "I can see you're serving drinks. But this place is dangerous. They're going to execute Master Luke, and if we're not careful, us too!"
Artoo whistled—a bit nonchalantly, as far as Threepio was concerned. "I wish I had your confidence," he replied glumly.
Jabba chuckled to see Ephant Mon go down—he loved a good beating. He especially loved to see strength crumble, to seethe proud fall. He tugged, with his swollen fingers, on thechain attached to Princess Leia's neck. The more resistance he met with, the more he drooled—until he'd drawn the struggling, scantily-clad princess closeto him once more. "Don't stray too far, my lovely. Soon you will begin to appreciate me." He pulled her very near and forced her to drink fromhis glass.
"And you're going to regret those words, Jabba", Padme seethed in disgust, all the while Anakin holding her hand to keep her calm in mind of her pregnancy.
Leia opened her mouth and she closed her mind. It was disgusting, ofcourse; but there were worse things, and in
any case, this wouldn't last.
She slid a few feet away from Jabba, now, as his attention was distracted—moved to peer out the slats in the louvered windows, to squint through the dusty sunlight at the skiff on which her rescuers were being carried.
It was stopping.
The whole convoy was stopping, in fact, over a huge sand pit. The Sail Barge moved to one side of the giant depression, with the escort skiff. The prisoners" skiff hovered directly over the pit, though, perhaps twenty feet in the air. This was the mouth ofthe Sarlacc.
The audience took a keen look at the creature. At the bottom of the deep cone of sand, a repulsive, mucus-lined, pink, membranous hole puckered, almost unmoving. The hole was eight feet in diameter, its perimeter clustered with three rows of inwardly-directed needle-sharp teeth. Sand stuck to the mucus that lined the sides of the opening, occasionally sliding into the black cavity at the center.
"I never thought I would see one again in my lifetime", Obi-Wan marveled at the creature, studiously observing it. "It's lifespan is extensive that could reach 50,000 years"
"These creatures are not limited to Tatooine", Saesee spoke. "Several star systems have sightings of these creatures such as Felucia, Aargonar and Socorro"
An iron plank was extended over the side of the prisoners" skiff. Two guards untied Luke's bonds and shoved himgruffly out onto the plank, straight above the orifice in the sand, now beginning to undulate in peristaltic movement and salivate with increased mucus secretion as its melled the meat it wasa bout to receive.
Jabba moved his party up to the observation deck.
Luke rubbed his wrists to restore circulation. The heat shimmering off the desert warmed his soul—for finally, this would always be his home. Born and bred in a Bantha patch. He saw Leia standing at the rail of the big barge, and winked.
She winked back.
Whatever worries the audience have for them have faded here, now realizing what this meant. "Taken care of everything already, he has.", Yoda beamed with a chuckle, admiring Luke's intuition to be one step ahead. "Unassuming, his adversaries are"
"Let's hope so, Master Yoda", Obi-Wan shared his confidence for the boy. "I wouldn't look forward for him becoming the Sarlacc's next meal"
Jabba motioned Threepio to his side, then mumbled orders to the golden droid. Threepio stepped up to the comlink. Jabba raised his arm, and the whole motley array of intergalactic pirates fell silent. Threepio's voice arose,amplified by theloudspeaker.
"His Excellency hopes you will die honorably," Threepio announced. This did not scan at all. Someone had obviously mislaid the correct program. Nonetheless, he was only a droid, his functions well delineated. He shook his head and continued. "But should any of you wish to beg for mercy, Jabba will now listen to your pleas."
"Like that disgusting fat lard would even bother to", Ahsoka called out to the crime lord, something that others had a similar thought.
Han stepped forward arrogantly, intending to give his own final words. "Threepio, you tell that slimy piece of... worm-ridden filth he'll get no such pleasure from us. Right?", he declared as Chewie growled in agreement at that right after.
Luke was ready. "Jabba, this is your last chance," he shouted. "Free us or die." He shot a quick look to Lando, who moved unobtrusively toward the back of the skiff.
"Even when it seems that the odds are stacked against him, Luke seems to know that the time to strike draws near", Depa remarked. "Especially since he sent both Threepio and Artoo inside the palace before him as barter"
"He needed his friends to be in one specific place, and one that has less danger that Jabba's palace had shown", Windu began to piece together the young man's plan. "And in this case, Jabba is at his most vulnerable position now that he only brought a portion of his guard for an execution that Skywalker had anticipated"
The monsters on the barge roared with laughter. Artoo, during this commotion, rolled silently up the ramp to the side ofthe upper deck. Jabba raised his hand, and his minions were quiet. "I'm sure you're right, my young Jedi friend," he smiled. Then he turned his thumb down."Put him in."
"And his arrogance will be his downfall", Shaak Ti further added.
The spectators cheered, as Luke was prodded to the edge of the plank by Weequay. Luke looked up at Artoo, standing alone by the rail, and flipped the little droid a jaunty salute. At that prearranged signal, a flap slid open in Artoo's domed head, and a projectile shot high into the air and curved in a gentle arc over the desert.
Anakin could only smirk, seeing himself at a similar position as Luke several times over. The language, the demeanor. It feld like looking at in a mirror. Now that Artoo had something that would help his son get through this. "Wait for it...", he told everyone as they quietly watched the tense scene.
Without warning, Luke jumped off the plank; another bloodthirsty cheer went up. In less than a second, though, Luke had spun around in freefall, and caught the end of the plank with his fingertips.
The thin metal bent wildly fromh is weight, paused near to snapping, then catapulted him up. In midair he did a complete flip and dropped down in the middle of the plank—the spot he'd just left, only now behind the confused guards. Casually, he extended his arm to his side, palm up—and suddenly, his lightsaber, which Artoo had shot sailing toward him, dropped neatly into his open hand.
And an emerald blade came to life as the Jedi Knight prepared to do what needs to be done.
"That's my son right there!"