Juvenile Experiment

Chapter 5

A day later...

"Artoo, don't worry, we know what we're doing."

At least Luke hoped he did for if they could not find any information on his condition, he would not have any hope of saving himself from the curse that already took Eden -- and from what he heard from Leia took Commander Charlotte Wishwinter about an hour ago as well.

He could practically feel the serum touch his organs and modify them slightly, preparing his body for a quick and extremely painful de-aging process. But he could not let those uncomfortable thoughts cloud his judgment.

As he ran through the rubbles of what used the be the science facility, he felt his hope slowly wither away.

There was almost nothing left of the facility leaving all but rubbles and the dead bodies of Imperial scientists. So, when they went further in, he felt slight relief that there were parts still standing, though pretty much everything seemed shattered and broken.

It was clear to him the Empire had already started their investigation on what had happened, but they all seemingly left the place for now.

"Kid, did you find anything?" Han asked, opening some damaged sideboards but only finding shattered vials. "Cause I'm having some trouble over here–" he bitterly added closing the door and moving towards another.

"Not yet," said Luke as he turned to his astromech droid, "Artoo see if you can download the map. We should be heading for the juvenile-experiment department."

Artoo moved over to whatever was left of the wall and jacked into the complex system undetected. Beeping loudly, he showed them a visualized map of the place.

"That's great Artoo!" Luke exclaimed happily; his bright blue eyes fixed on the upper-right room.

"What did you find?" Han asked.

Luke quickly turned around and headed for the door, "I know where the Juvenile-experiment department is," said Luke as he motioned for Han to follow him.

As they ran into the hallway, they heard a loud bark filled with alarm from Chewbacca followed by Leia who called out their names in a rush.

Halting, Han and Luke turned towards the voices, a door slid open and Leia almost flung herself at them.

"Leia, what's wrong?" Luke asked, holding her tight.

Her chocolate eyes turned serious, "We have a problem."

"Oh, I don't like problems. What is it now?" Han cut in.

"Admiral Ackbar just informed me there is an imperial invasion in space. They're attacking our ships as we speak," Leia told them, "Darth Vader is with them, so we have to watch out."

"Vader is up there?" Luke blanched at the thought of his father being so close. The last time he had seen him was on Cloud City and that had not been a pleasant experience. Shaking his head, Luke pushed those thoughts aside and motivated the others to get to the Juvenile-department.

He could feel Leia's worried stare, "You still weren't able to find anything?" she asked him.

Luke shook his head as they ran towards their destination, "Not yet, how about you?"

"I found three bottles of antidotes, but they're meant for the blinded and disabled rebels."

"That's good, now we only need to find the juvenile antidote and we're fine."

Han groaned, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble but what if we get imperial company?"

"I won't let anything happen to you guys. If worse comes you take the Millennium Falcon and leave as fast as possible." Luke responded resolutely.

Leia gave him a profound look, "Don't be selfless, Luke. I am not going to leave you behind. Especially not without an antidote," she shot back annoyed.