Leana wiped the sweat from her forehead as she descended the rungs of the ladder propped up against her X-Wing. She had just loaded her emergency supply case back into her ship, dressed again in her orange g-suit. The astromech droids were already positioned in their sockets, waiting for takeoff.
Yoda stood on the ground, leaning on his cane as he watched Leana and Luke prepare to depart. "Luke, Leana. You must complete the training. Please? Will you finish your training?"
Leana glanced back at her ship, pausing on the ladder, and rolled her eyes. Yoda had been alternating between pleading with them and threatening them with the wrath of Henry for the past half an hour, and what had started as polite rejections from Luke had turned into very annoyed ones.
"No way, Yoda," Luke said now, a biting edge to his voice as he descended the ladder. "I am going to save the day – and my friends."
"You're gonna save nothing," Leana muttered under her breath, yet she could understand Luke's perspective. Her own friends were in Cloud City, too, and she didn't want them to suffer because of Vader's scheme to lure Luke there.
Would he even torture them? Or would he seek to kill them?
A sharp yet quiet voice cut through Leana's thoughts. "Don't speak to your master that way!"
Luke, Leana, and Yoda slowly turned to see the pale, flickering image of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Leana gasped as she rapidly continued her climb down the ladder, going so quickly she missed a rung and stumbled as she reached the ground. "Obi-Wan!" she exclaimed.
"Old Ben!" Luke echoed, sounded awed to see his old master again.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, looking from Luke to Leana. Far from looking puzzled to see Leana, he instead looked contemplative. "It is me."
I'm supposing Qui-Gon told him about me. So he wouldn't blow my cover.
"Luke, you must not go," Obi-Wan admonished, his gaze moving to Luke again. "It is too dangerous."
"What about Han and Leia?" Luke demanded. "They'll die!"
"No they won't, Luke," Leana said quietly.
"Luke, you don't know that," Obi-Wan said flatly, ignoring Leana's remark. "Even Yoda doesn't know their fate."
"But I do," Leana insisted.
Obi-Wan, Luke, and Yoda all looked at her, their expressions varying degrees of incredulousness. "No, you don't," Yoda told her, gesturing dismissively at her.
A surge of anger reared its head within Leana, a flash of red hot coloring her vision. She struggled against it, reining it back as best she could. No, I must not succumb to the dark side! "I do, too, know," she insisted, fighting to keep her voice even. "Han and Leia will not die. They will be captured and tortured, yes. But not killed. The Empire is using them. Yes, Luke," she added, at seeing the look of disbelief on Luke's face. "Your friends are bait for the Empire's trap – their trap for you."
Yoda, Luke, and Obi-Wan just looked at her for a long moment, Luke looking incredulous as a touch of sadness colored Obi-Wan's expression. Finally, Yoda broke the silence. "Wow. You must have more potential than I thought, to see all that. How many midi-chlorians do you have? And how come I couldn't see that when I looked? I'm a way better Jedi, after all."
"Leana," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Just because the future looks clear to you doesn't mean it is. There are some things you will be able to rely on, but you should be careful drawing assumptions. Learn to use the Force."
"Leana, if Master Yoda doesn't know their fate, how do you?" Luke asked. "I thought the future was difficult to see."
"It is," Leana said. I want to go to Bespin, too – I just need to be able to convince others that what I know is real. Otherwise, how will I ever be able to change the story? "I just know, trust me on that. You'll see, I guess."
"I'm still going," Luke told her, looking from her to Yoda and then to Obi-Wan, who both looked grim. "I am still going to save my friends."
"I'll go with you," Leana said quietly.
"You understand that I cannot interfere if you fight Vader?" Obi-Wan said to Luke, keeping his gaze on the Rebel.
"Now I do," Luke replied. "Goodbye, Master Yoda. I will come back to complete the training. Bye, Old Ben."
"Will you stop calling me that?" Obi-Wan snapped grouchily. "I have a name, you know."
"Sorry," Luke muttered. He climbed up into the cockpit. "Artoo, fire up the converters. Come on, Leana."
Leana turned to the Jedi. "Goodbye, Master Yoda. Goodbye, Master Kenobi. Thank you for the training, and for the advice. I do appreciate it."
"May the Force be with you, Luke and Leana!" Yoda called. "Remember, the sandwiches are indicators of the light side! Stay away from hamburgers!"
"Uh, thank you," Leana said, gripping the rungs of the ladder as she climbed up, sliding over the side and down into the cockpit. "Power up the converters, Arfour." Picking up her helmet from off the console, she slipped it over her dark hair, settling the visor over her eyes.
"Beware of the dark side!" Yoda warned.
"Don't become like Vader," Obi-Wan added, his tone grim. "Don't allow that path to fool you."
"We'll be careful," Leana promised, as Luke nodded. "Don't worry."
"Like there's anything else I can do but worry," Yoda said grumpily. "Henry is not answering me at all, so what else am I to do? There's no one to talk to."
"What, am I just a tree stump to you?" Obi-Wan asked, looking down at him.
"Sometimes, yeah," Yoda remarked, as Leana and Luke shut their cockpit canopies, Leana feeling a pang of guilt at the mention of Henry's disappearance. With the engines firing up, Leana guided her X-Wing off the ground, blasting off into the sky and avoiding the overhanging tree branches.
Time to go to Bespin.
****
Ben leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Captain Dan sat next to him, looking overall very sour.
The two were seated in a conference room, at one end of a long table. Vader stood near the door, while Boba Fett slumped in a seat up against the wall, bopping his head in rhythm to more pop songs Ben couldn't hear.
His foot throbbed with pain, still broken from his fight with Vader. Ben had been trying to keep his weight off it, but it was hard to hop everywhere, so he had resorted to hobbling. Fortunately, Dan had gotten him a cast of some kind, to make the walking easier, but had denied him crutches.
Ben didn't understand the Imperial medical system.
They were now in Cloud City, waiting for Lando to spring the plan into action. Ben didn't want his friends to be captured, but he also didn't want to be stuck with Vader – he did want to see them again and find a way to escape. He was tired of being a prisoner – although, all things considered, it could be worse. Vader could have thought he was a Tusken Raider instead of his old Jedi Master and slaughtered him on sight.
Beside him, Dan sighed in frustration. The position of captain of the Avenger had gone to somebody else, making Dan very annoyed. And to make matters worse, another Imperial officer – a very irritating one – had joined them on Cloud City.
Dan referred to him as Fred the Officer, but called him Fred the Lobster when his back was turned. The nickname had confused Ben at first, but then he had observed how red Fred's face became when he got excited, angry, or experienced any other kind of emotion, and it then made sense.
Fred now paced the length of the conference room. "You don't think they're on to us, do you?" he asked Dan.
"No," Dan snapped.
Fred frowned at him. "Don't use that tone with your superiors."
"You're not my superior," Dan reminded him. "You got demoted again, remember?"
"When?" Fred demanded.
"Last week," Dan told him. "When you spilled coffee over the navicomputer."
"But coffee isn't allowed on the bridge," Fred pointed out.
"That's why it was a problem," Dan sighed.
Fred frowned and paced off again. Ben glanced over at Dan. "I thought Imperials who screwed up lost the right to breathe."
"That's what I wanted to happen, too, but no," Dan moaned, rolling his eyes. "He just got demoted. It happens all the time. He's been promoted and demoted so many times, we've all lost track of what rank he is. I guess that's what happens when you're the Emperor's nephew – you get special privileges. That's why we call him Fred the Officer, though, because no one can remember his title, including himself. And that's also his last name."
"Officer is his last name?" Ben repeated, furrowing his brow.
"Fred de Oficiere," Dan said. "So he was just being set up to be called Fred the Officer."
Ben adjusted his position, his g-suit wrinkling as he moved. Between Fred the Lobster and Boba Fett's pop playlist, things were just getting too weird. But soon, he'd see his friends again, even if it wouldn't be under the best of circumstances.
But still. He had hopes for their escape. Not for Han's, but for everybody else's.
We'll just have to think of a way to free Han.
****
Lumina folded her hands in her lap as she watched Leia pace. Tension coiled in her shoulders, as she knew the meeting with the Imperials was inevitable. She couldn't think of a way to avoid it. They would all be captured, to be either tortured or killed.
She wasn't looking forward to meeting Vader again.
But Lumina had to stay calm, to stay rational. She had to be able to think on her feet, to find a way out if it presented itself. In the end, she knew everyone but Han would make it out, if they stuck to the story.
How does Lucas and I being here change things?
"Settle down," she told Leia. "Lucas and Chewbacca will find Threepio. Don't worry."
"What could've happened to him?" Leia asked. "I don't understand."
Han strode into the room, approaching Leia as Lumina sighed, interlacing her fingers together. "Almost done, Leia. Just a couple of things left, then we're out of here."
"Good," Leia said emphatically. "There's something not right here. No one knows anything about C-3PO. And he's been gone too long to have gotten lost."
"That's cause he didn't get lost," Lumina muttered. At this point, though, it was too late for anybody to listen to her. Why even bother?
"I'll ask Lando," Han told Leia. "Maybe he knows something."
"Ask him what he's hiding," Lumina spat. She couldn't help it.
"I don't trust Lando," Leia said, folding her arms over her chest. "I agree with Lumina here."
Good call.
"Neither do I," Han said, wrapping an arm around Leia and drawing her closer to him. "And he's my friend! But he is helping us."
"For how long?" Lumina demanded, rising from the couch. "Leia's right, Han. Don't trust him. As soon as the Falcon's done, let's get out of here. Make sure to double check the hyperdrive before taking off. But, if Lando asks you to join him for refreshments, do not accept!"
It's not like it was going to do any good, but she at least could try to sway the story.
"Don't worry so much, Lu," Han said to her. "Lando's a lot of things, including a scoundrel, but he's not a traitor."
"If you don't heed my advice, you'll be sorry," Lumina warned.
But all Han did was laugh.