"You don't know that." The ethereal voice of Obi-Wan said, the same apparition Luke had seen on Hoth appearing behind and to the side of Yoda. "Even Yoda cannot see their fate."
"Unfortunately, he has a point." Master Mundi frowned. "If I've learned anything, it's that the future is mercurial at best. They may die, but they might not either."
...
Anakin allowed those words to sink into his head. Those are two possible outcomes depended on how onewould act, if they are patient and careful enough.
"But if I go and help them, I can make sure they don't."
"But at what cost? If this plays out the way I think, there is no way you come out of it unscathed."
"But I can help them!" Luke fought, "I feel the Force."
"But you cannot control it. This is a dangerous time for you, when you will be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force."
The Jedi immediatley understood what Obi-Wan is trying to tell him. Luke cannot face or control his fear. And fear is the first step towards the Dark Side of the Force.
"If Vader could manipulate what Luke felt, he could...", Obi-Wan uttered before shaking his head immediatley at the thought.
"Yes! Yes! To Obi-Wan you listen." Yoda said, "The cave! Remember your failure at the cave."
"But I've learned so much since then. Master Yoda, I promise to return and to finish what I've begun, you have my word."
"It is you and your abilities the Emperor wants." Obi-Wan said, "That is why your friends are made to suffer."
"Palpatine could have manipulated these events for Luke to fall for it", Mace said with a frown.
Luke looked up from his work. "That's why I have to go."
"Luke, I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader."
Obi-Wan then thought. It had been his failure to stop Vader from falling to the path that Jedi sought to avoid, and it cost him his brother and almost the entire Jedi Order.
"Luke, listen to Obi-Wan! You can't do this!", Anakin urged his son, not wanting to see him fall to the path of the Sith.
"You won't."
"Stopped they must be." Yoda said firmly. "On this, all depends. Only a fully trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as their ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor. If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path, as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil."
Yoda closed his eyes in deep thought. It may had been his failure to defeat the Sith that resulted of the destruction of the Jedi Order. As much as he disapprove of Luke's decision, it was the Force who determines their fate.
And perhaps it was a punishment from the Force for refusing to change their ways.
"Patience!" Obi-Wan urged.
"And sacrifice Leia and Han?" Luke snapped at them.
"If you honor what they fight for? Yes."
"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere."
Luke's eyes closed. "I understand." he opened his eyes, Obi-Wan and Yoda seeing the resolve burning within those blue orbs. "Artoo, fire up the converters." Yoda hung his head as Luke began to climb up the ladder into the cockpit.
"Luke! Don't give in to hate." Obi-Wan yelled in warning. "That leads to the Dark Side."
"Strong is Vader! Mind what you have learned! Save you it can!" Yoda told him.
"Can't they just make him stay?", Ahsoka inquired, worried for Luke's safety.
Yoda hummed. "Not our place, it is. Chosen his path, he has"
Luminara sighed and gave an apologetic look to Obi-Wan. "His impatience will be his undoing"
Obi-Wan only nodded his head in agreement.
"I will!" he told him as the ship began to lift off and the canopy descended. "And I'll come back! I promise!"
Yoda sighed as the ship began to turn and fly away. "Told you, I did. Reckless is he. Now, matters are worse."
"That boy is our last hope." Obi-Wan agreed.
"No. There is another."
The audience were then confused. What did Yoda mean by another? Another Jedi who is capable of finishing what Luke could not? Or someone by blood who could take the torch?
Back in the Cloud City, a new day had come, and Leia was pacing nervously around the apartment Lando had given them to stay in. She had abandoned her winter gear in favor of something more appropriate for an upscale urban setting, going for a balance between ornamentation and practicality.
She turned as Han entered the room, wearing a cleaned version of the outfit he had arrived in and his blaster pistol hanging in its holster.
"We're looking good." The smuggler told her with a smile, "Just a few more repairs to do, and we should be good to go."
"Too good.", Plo Koon. "Something does not add up..."
"The sooner the better." She said, walking up to Han, "Something is wrong here. No one has seen or knows anything about Threepio, and he has been gone too long to have gotten lost."
"Threpio is one thing. Where could he have gone to?", Padmé asked, aorried.
"Relax." Han said gently, kissing her on the forehead, "I'll go talk to Lando, see what I can find out."
Ahsoka and Shaak Ti giggled at the sigh, clearly liking the pair while Anakin gave her a betrayed look saying: you like this scoundrel?
Mundi spoke. "I don't trust Lando."
"His visage and his friendly look was suspicious enough", Kit Fisto agreed with him.
"Well, I don't trust him either." Han said, joining Leia on the couch, "But he is my friend. Besides, we'll be gone soon enough."
Leia looked at him sadly. "And then you will too."
Meanwhile, Chewie was walking through the junkyard of the city, looking for anything he could use to jerry-rig spare parts, when he noticed a box of scrap containing familiar gold plating.
The audience eyes widened. "Dont tell me..."
Chewie up his head and looking it over. The strange pig-faced aliens who worked there shouted at him to put it down, but he simply yelled at them and began to grab every scrap to Threepio he could get his hands on.
Anakin groaned at the sight. Sure Threepio can be repaired easily, but it was an unnerving sight to see him dismantled like that. After all, he was the first droid he ever created.
The others however, resisted the urge to laugh at the droid's predicament.
He returned to the apartment just as Han and Leia were having their little discussion. Chewie called out, carrying in a pair of boxes containing Theepio's parts.
"What happened?" Leia asked, where Chewie growled back.
"What was he doing there?" Han wondered aloud.
Leia sighed. "What a mess. Chewie, you think you can repair him?"
"Lando's got people who can fix him." Han offered.
"No thanks." Leia said facetiously.
A dull gong sound announced the arrival of Leia into their apartment. "Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"
"Not really." Leia said, closing her robe as she crossed her arms over her stomach. Lando smiled and approached her.
"You look absolutely beautiful." he said, drinking in her beauty. "You truly belong here with us among the clouds."
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka looked at Anakin, who glared at Lando at the screen. "Even Hondo knows better manners..."
"Guh." Padmé squirmed in her seat, "He sounded like one of those boys that father tried to set me up at Naboo."
"Thank you." Leia said politely, hiding her slight discomfort.
"Would you all care to join me for a little refreshment?" he took Leia's hand and looked down at the parts of Threepio. "Having trouble with your droid?"
"Nope." Han said with his best grin, offering his hand to Leia, which the princess gladly took as they left the apartment. As they walked, Leia inquired about Lando's role in everything in Cloud City.
"So you see, since we're a small operation, we don't fall into the jurisdiction of the Empire." he explained.
"So you're a part of the Mining Guild, then?" Leia asked.
"Not really, no. Our operation is small enough not to be noticed. Which is advantageous for everybody, since our customers are anxious to avoid attracting attention to themselves."
"Black market then." Rex concluded.
"Well, aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this little operation of yours? Shut you down?" Han asked.
"It's always been a danger, and it looms like a shadow over everything we've built. But things have developed that'll ensure security. I've recently made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever."
He opened up a door in front of them, revealing a dining room with a long white wood table set for multiple people. And at the head of that table sat Vader, who stood when the door opened.
"VADER!", Anakin shouted in complete dismay.
"This is bad!", Ahsoka exclaimed, seeing that the group had fallen to the Empire's trap while a the same time, angered at Lando. Needless to say, the audience were outraged by Lando's betrayal, cursing out whatever they could at him.
"Traitor!", Mace called out.
"Sellout!", Luminara seconded.
"Scoundrel!", Shaak Ti added.
"Imperial bootlicker!" Kit Fisto concluded.
Chewie roared as he tried to unsling his bowcaster, but Han had beaten him to it, drawing his blaster pistol and firing several times at Vader. Vader simply held up a hand and stopped all the bolts before raising his other hand and pulling the weapon into his grasp using the Force.
"We would be honored if you would join us." he said as the bounty hunter, Boba Fett, had led them here stepped out from behind a pillar, his EE-3 blaster at the ready. Behind the trio, an entire company of Stormtroopers burst into the open and surrounded them.
"Fett led the Empire to them. And used Lando as their tool", Obi-Wan pieced out.
Han looked at Lando. "I had no choice, they arrived just before you did." he explained. "I'm sorry."
"Explains why they wouldn't them land." Ahsoka muttered, trying to calm Anakin down.
Leia took Han's hand to calm him. "I'm sorry too." The smuggler said.
After a tense meeting with Vader, Chewie found himself thrown into a jail cell with the bars making up the ceiling.
Chewie roared, covering his ears. To his relief, the sirens fell silent soon after, taking a look around. As far as prison went, this was one of the better ones he had been in. At least this one was dry and relatively clean, unlike the last one she had taken residence in.
Chewie was landed on the boxes full of Threepio from the apartment. He decided a puzzle was in order to keep himself sane, so he began to think about how to go about it.
He pulled out Threepio's head and chest, and attached them together. He twisted some bolts at the neck joint and Threepio began making noise.
"Probably the last things he said before that." Anakin muttered.
"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.
...
Hey guys I would really appreciate it if you could throw some power stones to help elevate the ranking.
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