Stick Together
a Star Wars story
by Hermione Eveningfall
Leia and Luke ducked out of sight from the storm troopers, listening to the sound of blaster rays bouncing off steel walls. As he shielded the princess from view, Luke cursed himself for not having come up with a better means of escape. Then again, he'd been thrown into this situation quite randomly as it was, and didn't have time to really think things through. `Hard to believe just two days ago I was complaining about having to clean droids to prepare for the harvest,' he thought. `Now I'm starting to miss those quiet times.'
Han and Chewbacca finally met up with them, panting and sweating. "Looks like it's up to me to save our skins," she told the boys with a roll of her eyes. "Get in," she added, though when Luke and Han gave her skeptical expressions, she added "Do what I say... trust me!" Then, after popping the lock from the garbage chute, she leapt in first, disappearing down the dark tunnel.
"Some girl! She's a nightmare, kid, honestly!" Han growled to Luke as he tried to persuade Chewbacca to hop down next. "Either I'm going to kill her!", or I'm beginning to like her!"
Luke raised his eyes, watching as the enormous wookie whined in protest, shaking his great furry head frantically. "Go in, you furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!" with a swift kick, the animal disappeared next, leaving the two men alone. "After you," Han added, motioning with his arm. Luke slid down the chute, landing with a surprised yelp on top of a pile of debris.
"Ugh! Yuck!" he grunted, stumbling over to Leia, once his eyes adjusted to the dim light. She leaned against the metal wall, her white dress stained with filth. A moment later there was another cry and a splush, as Han sailed through the tunnel and joined them. He lay on his back for a moment before forcing himself up.
"Lucky this debri is soft," he grunted, trudging through the muck. "You all right, kid?" he asked, hearing Luke cough miserably.
"Yeah...I'm fine."
Chewbacca made a loud whine, causing Han to glare at him. "The garbage chute was a wonderful idea." He cringed at the foul stench, and raised his arms. "What an incredible smell you've discovered!" when the wookie moved aside, Han noticed a door, and moved towards it rather clumsily.
"Ouch!" Leia gasped. "You stood on my foot!"
Han ignored her, lifting his pistol and aiming it for the padlock. Luke realized what he was doing, and did not have a chance to cry, "Don't!" before he pulled the tricker. A red flare shot out from the gun, ricocheting against the walls. The four dove for cover, covering their heads with their arms. The bullet missed each of them by an inch, and Leia was the first to look up once the sound disapparated.
"Dammit, Han, I already tried that! The walls are magnetically sealed!" Luke snapped, as Leia continued, "If you don't mind, would you put that thing away before you get us all killed!"
"Yes your worship," Han snapped in response. "It won't take long for them to realize what happened to us. We had everything under control until you lead us down here!"
Leia wet her lips. "Well, it could be worse." She admitted, though at the moment, she wasn't quite sure how much worse it could get. They might all suffocate from the rotten smell after a time. Still, she held her head high and insisted with a nod that everything was going to be fine.
"There's something moving down there," Luke managed to squeak, breaking the awkward silence that followed. Han and Leia glanced at him, their eyes raised.
"What?" Han snapped, not wanting to deal with some kid's overactive imagination at the moment.
"Something just moved past my leg!"
Leia felt her heart racing, and tried to move as far away from the pools of water as she could. Before Han could respond, Luke let out a cry and disappeared beneath the surface of debris. "Luke!" Leia screamed, hurrying to join Han and aiding him in searching through the trash frantically for any sign of the boy. "Oh now what are we going to do..." she clenched her fists, trying to think.
"Kid!" Han cried, and as though to answer him, Luke's body shot out of the water. He struggled against a long and slimey tentacle which had wrapped itself around his neck and waist, and he yelled, "Shoot it, shoot it!"
"Relax, kid! If you struggle, it'll only kill you faster!"
Leia slapped Han on the arm. "Oh that was brilliant...he'll really be able to relax with that piece of advice!"
Han started to aim his pistol at the tentacle, but before he could pull the trigger, the creature pulled Luke under again. "Luke!" Han began pushing debris aside again, aiming his pistol at the spot where bubbles formed at the surface. Leia peered over his shoulder, breathing quickly.
"Help!" Luke cried out as he plunged through the top of the water again. "Help, shoot this thing, kill it!" he went under once more.
When Luke came back, the creature had released him, and he struggled to find a hard surface to crawl upon. Leia grabbed his hands and pulled him upright, patting his back as he choked up mouthfuls of sludge. "What was it?" Leia asked, her eyes wide and her face white.
"I don't know!" Luke gasped, once he managed to take a deep breath. "I thi-ink-EhKSHHHHH! HuhKSHHHHH! Ow!" he coughed, rubbing his chest as two sneezes nearly knocked him over.
"Bless y..." Leia started to tell him thoughtfully, but stopped in mid sentence. A horrible grinding noise filled their ears from a distance, and an echoing *Snap*.
"Uh oh," Han muttered under his breath, realizing shortly afterwards that the walls were slowly moving in on them.
"Don't just stand there gaping at each other!" Leia snapped, grabbing onto one of the large metal polls lying nearby. "Help me brace them!"
Han picked one up, just as Luke frantically searched for his comlink. "Threepio!" he yelled, sniffling. "Come in Threepio!" He felt sick to his stomach when no response followed. He looked worriedly at his friends, who were practically straddling themselves against the walls. "I don't know why he doesn't answer," he croaked. "Threepi-EhKSHHHHH!"
"That'll get him," Han retorted sarcastically.
"He might be getting sick," Leia snapped back. "Don't be such a selfish be..."
"Shut up both of you," Luke ordered, and they bit their tongues. He tried again, hoping and praying that the droid would manage to hear them in time. "See Threepio! Come in, Threepio! Do you read!"
Unfortunately for Luke, Han and Leia, the comlink that Threepio was supposed to have on him lay on the table in the control center. Luke's voice came out of the tiny speaker, mixing with the rumbling of the generator. Several storm troopers entered the area, hearing frightened voices coming from one of the tall supply cabinets near the back of the room.
"Help, help! Let us out!"
The troopers inspected the immobile bodies...two droids. One looked very humanlike, while the other was a miniature artoo unit. "Madmen, I tell you!" Threepio cried, lifting his metallic arms in desperation. "They said something I believe about heading for the prison level! Hurry now, and you might catch them! Go that way!"
Two of the troopers hurried off, telling another to stand guard. They ignored the robots as they discussed what might have taken place.
"I do beg your pardon, but I find my counterpart has become rather distraught and overloaded by the comotion. Would you kindly excuse us so I might take him to maintenance?"
The trooper who had been appointed as guard gave Threepio a suspicious glance, before letting him go wth a wave of his gun.
Once out of earshot, Threepio sighed with relief and glanced down at Artoo. "That was very close. Now we'll have find another information-control console and plug you back in, or everything will be lost."
After several tries to call See Threepio via the comlink, Luke was getting ready to abandon all hope of escape. Between his almost now constant sneezing and Chewie's whining, it was a wonder the troopers hadn't heard them. "HuhESHHHHH! HahSHHHHH! This is getting ridiculous!" Luke grumbled, his throat tingling painfully as he gritted his teeth, trying desparately to keep the metal poles in place. They were quickly bending upward, and no doubt would snap within momens. "Where is Threepio I wonder!"
"One thing's for sure," Han panted, practically crawling up the walls. "We're all going to be a lot thinner!"
In any other case, the joke would have been funny, but Leia and Luke merely gave him threatening looks. "This is not a time for jokes," Leia hissed. "Han, try the hatch again! Luke, please try calling Threepio again, also."
Luke pressed the button on the comlink, his teeth chattering from oncoming chills as he attempted once more to call for the droid's help.
Threepio lead Artoo down to the service bay, and they commenced a hurried search of the many service panels. Artoo let out a frantic beep, and Threepio rushed to him.
"What is it?" he asked, waiting as the smaller bot plugged the receptive arm carefully into the open socket.
Artoo bleeped his information quickly, and Threepio jerked backwards, horrified. "Slow down! Ah, that's better. They're where? Oh no...they'll only come out of there as liquid!"
The situation was becoming drastic for Leia, Luke and Han as barely a meter of space was left between themselves and the walls. Luke, fighting the beginning of a head cold, had fallen and was lying on one side, trying desparately to keep out of the water.
"Threepio," he croaked hoarsely, coughing painfully. Leia and Han were forced to turn sideways, facing each other.
"Are you there sir?" the droid replied at last, and all three sighed with relief. "We had a few difficulties. You would not believe..."
"Shut up, Threepio!" Luke sniffled. "I...HuhKESHHHHH! Sorry..." he cleared his throat. "But I want you to shut down all the refuse units on the detention level or immediately below it. Do you understand! Shut down the refuse...."
In the control center, Threepio anxiously reported Luke's instructions to Artoo, who immediately began to carry them out. "Hurry! Oh listen to them..." Threepio wailed. The screaming and yelling, however, was not of dying victims. They were shouts of relief and joy. The walls had stopped moving at last, and the group in the garbage shut embraced each other, jumping up and down with excitement.
"We have to get you into something dry," Leia told Luke, once she managed to contain herself, though she was still thrilled that everything had worked out in the end. She wrapped her arm around Luke's shoulders, trying to keep him warm for the moment, while he added more instructions to Threepio.
"Open the pressure-maintenance hatch on unit 366-HuhKESHHHH!"
Han rolled his eyes with a snort, and snatched the comlink out of Luke's hand. "366-117891," he finished.
"Yes sir," Threepio responded.
"Thank you," Luke told Han, who shrugged.
"All in a day's work, kid."
Week #29: Date issued to list: 9/26/2004
Plot Bunny Idea: Write a story, any length, any fandom, in the style of your favourite author
This is in the style of J.K. Rowling. This scene is supposed to somewhat represent the scene in HP1 with Devil's Snare...at least the beginning. Character representations: Han, Luke, Leia=Harry, Ron and Hermione. Theepio=McGonagall, Artoo=possibly Lee Jordan.
I really appreciate any feedback you're willing to give. also, again i was aided in threepio's personality by FrodoBaggins252. :) and she is just a lovely muse in general ;)