Return of the Jedi (Junior Novelization)

by Ryder Windham

  The power of the explosion rocked the Rebel fleet. Inside the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit, Lando was stunned.

  “That blast came from the Death Star!” he exclaimed. “That thing’s operational! Home One, this is Gold Leader.”

  “We saw it,” Admiral Ackbar answered. “All craft prepare to retreat.”

  Lando said, “You won’t get another chance at this, Admiral.”

  “We have no choice, General Calrissian,” Ackbar replied. “Our cruisers can’t repel firepower of that magnitude.”

  “Han will have that shield down,” Lando promised. “We’ve got to give him more time.”

  On Endor, Leia, Han, and a small group of Rebel commandos fought desperately to maintain their position outside the bunker that led to the shield generator control station. Four stormtroopers had found cover behind a fallen tree on the ridge that overlooked the bunker, maintaining a definite tactical advantage as they fired down at the Rebels below. Han was wishing he had a grenade to lob at the troopers when he saw a band of spear-wielding Ewoks leap out from the bushes above and behind the ridge. Pouncing quickly, the Ewoks made quick work of the white-armored soldiers.

  But the bunker door remained closed. Leia wondered, Where’s Artoo?

  Just then, C-3PO called out, “We’re coming!”

  Han and Leia saw the droids moving on the ridge, trying to make their way down to the bunker, as an enemy-fired laserbolt streaked past R2-D2’s domed head. Han traced the angle of fire to spot the shooter: a stormtrooper hiding behind some nearby bushes. Han raised his blaster, fired, and struck the shooter squarely in the middle of his helmet. The trooper fell back against the ground.

  “Come on! Come on!” Han shouted to the droids.

  More stormtroopers fired at the bunker. C-3PO ran up beside Leia as R2-D2 scooted over next to Han. Positioning himself beside the doorway’s computer terminal, R2-D2 extended his computer interface arm and plugged into the terminal socket.

  C-3PO said, “Oh, Artoo, hurry!”

  But before the astromech could open the door, a stormtrooper fired a laserbolt that struck directly in front of him. The droid screeched as the blast launched him backward from the terminal to the far side of the doorway, where he slammed against the door’s metal frame. Han sighted R2-D2’s attacker and fired his blaster; the stormtrooper fell to the ground.

  C-3PO stepped beside R2-D2, then backed away as an electrical surge suddenly coursed through and over the astromech’s body. Artoo screeched again, then every compartment on his body popped open to deploy his many tool-tipped appendages.

  “My goodness!” C-3PO cried as smoke poured out from his friend’s domed head. “Artoo, why did you have to be so brave?”

  Han and Leia gaped at R2-D2’s disabled form, then Han said, “Well, I suppose I could hot-wire this thing.” He turned for the door’s control panel.

  “I’ll cover you,” Leia said. She began firing at the stormtroopers, allowing Han to concentrate on the door’s mechanisms. Sparks flew as he broke the control panel open and fumbled with some exposed wires.

  Leia had no idea what was happening with the Rebel fleet, but she knew that if she and Han failed to knock out the energy shield generator, the battle would be lost.

  The Death Star fired its superlaser again, and another Mon Cal cruiser was instantly vaporized. As Wedge Antilles raced his X-wing away from the explosion, he wasn’t sure if he’d heard Lando Calrissian’s last message correctly, and asked him to repeat.

  From the Millennium Falcon, Lando shouted, “Yes! I said closer! Move as close as you can and engage those Star Destroyers at point-blank range.”

  On the Home One, Admiral Ackbar heard Lando’s transmission and said, “At that close range we won’t last long against those Star Destroyers.”

  Lando replied, “We’ll last longer than we will against that Death Star—and we might just take a few of them with us.”

  Ackbar agreed with Lando’s improvised plan; Home One and the remaining cruisers began speeding toward the Star Destroyers. The Rebels were practically on top of the enemy ships when they opened fire on the Star Destroyers’ control bridges and communication towers.

  TIE fighters zoomed in to defend the Imperial warships and went after the Rebel starfighters with even greater maliciousness. An X-wing pilot blasted at a Destroyer’s port-side deflector-shield generator dome and shouted, “She’s gonna blow!” The dome exploded, but a moment later, TIE fighters fired at the X-wing and it blossomed into a ball of fire.

  “I’m hit!” cried a Rebel pilot from his flaming Y-wing. The Y-wing spiraled away from the TIE fighters and smashed into a Star Destroyer.

  On the Death Star, the Emperor was unconcerned by the way the battle had shifted to the Star Destroyers. He gazed at Luke, who remained by the circular window, and said, “Your fleet is lost. And your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. There is no escape, my young apprentice.”

  Luke glanced at Darth Vader. He thought, If there’s even a trace of Anakin Skywalker left, he wouldn’t stand by and allow this to continue.

  But all Darth Vader did was return Luke’s gaze.

  The Emperor opened his yellow eyes and said, “The Alliance will die…as will your friends.”

  Luke glared at the Emperor and wished the wretched man would choke on his words.

  “Good,” the Emperor said, closing his yellow eyes and smiling. “I can feel your anger. I am defenseless.”

  Luke glanced at his lightsaber, still resting near the Emperor’s right hand on the throne’s armrest.

  “Take your weapon!” the Emperor challenged. “Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey toward the dark side will be complete.”

  Luke turned away, trying to resist the temptation to kill the Emperor. Then he thought, But if I don’t kill him, how many more innocent people will die?

  Luke moved fast, turning to face the Emperor as he used the Force to make his lightsaber fly from the throne’s armrest to his waiting hand. His lightsaber blazed to life and he swung fast at the Emperor’s head.

  Luke’s lightsaber never reached its target. Darth Vader’s red-bladed lightsaber ignited a split second after Luke’s, and Vader deftly blocked the attack.

  Seeing the two lightsabers crossed mere centimeters in front of his horrible face, Emperor Palpatine cackled. He hadn’t seen a lightsaber duel in years, and was now delighted by the prospect of watching a father and son try to kill each other.

  I won’t kill you, father, Luke thought. I won’t!

  Then Vader pushed Luke back away from the Emperor, and Luke was suddenly fighting for his life.

  On Endor, AT-ST walkers continued to prowl the forest and fire at the scurrying Ewoks. As a walker moved past a tree-covered hillside, two Ewoks looked up at the tallest and furriest new member of their tribe: Chewbacca. The Wookiee reached for a long vine that dangled from the treetops, then barked to his short allies.

  The two Ewoks threw their arms and legs around him and clung tight as he seized the vine. Chewbacca howled a battle cry as he leaped away from the hill, carrying the Ewoks with him. They swung over the forest floor and landed with a loud thud on top of the nearest Imperial walker.

  Inside the walker’s cockpit, the pilot and gunner heard the noise above their helmeted heads. A moment later, the gunner sighted an upside-down Ewok hanging in front of the pilot’s viewport. The gunner pointed and said, “Look!”

  The walker’s pilot looked to the viewport. The Ewok chuckled, then slid out of view. The pilot said to the gunner, “Get him off of there!”

  The gunner stood and pushed up the roof-mounted entry hatch. When the hatch was fully opened, Chewbacca reached down and hauled the gunner straight out of the cockpit. The gunner screamed as he was hurled from the top of the vehicle.

  Before the walker’s pilot realized what had happened, the two Ewoks leaped down into the cockpit and clubbed him. Shoving the pilot’s body into the cramped compartment
behind the seats, the Ewoks reached for the steering controls.

  Chewbacca was nearly thrown from the walker’s roof as the vehicle lurched forward, but he bent down and quickly eased himself through the hatch. The Ewoks made room for him as he settled into the pilot’s seat.

  Through the viewports, Chewbacca saw another walker nearby; it was firing at a group of fleeing Ewoks. Chewbacca and his companions decided to put a stop to it.

  The Wookiee guided his walker through the woods, then fired the blaster cannons at the other walker. The enemy walker’s command cabin exploded, spraying metal in all directions. When the Ewoks on the ground looked back at the vehicle, all that remained was its two legs and a shattered drive engine. The Ewoks cheered.

  Without breaking his walker’s stride, Chewbacca aimed his cannons at the Imperial ground troops and fired. Laserbolts tore through the forest, and the stormtroopers ran to escape the barrage.

  The explosions drew the attention of the remaining two scout troopers. As they flew in tandem formation past the trees on their speeder bikes, an Ewok tossed a looped vine into the path of the scout at the rear. The other end of the long, heavy vine had been anchored to the base of a tree; when the thrown loop lassoed the bike’s steering vanes, the snagged bike began whipping around the tree at high speed. The bike carried its rider on a rapid clockwise trip until the vine was completely wrapped around the tree’s trunk and the bike crashed and exploded.

  The last scout trooper was also done in by a well-placed vine, which the Ewoks had stretched a short distance above the ground between two trees. Striking the vine, the scout was knocked from his saddle while his bike hurtled forward and collided with another tree.

  The Ewoks continued to fight with cunning innovation, using the forest’s natural resources against the Imperial invaders. When they saw two Imperial walkers moving swiftly through the woods, they simultaneously released two vine-suspended logs from the treetops; the massive logs swung like twin hammers, smashing into both sides of the first walker’s command cabin. As the second walker moved past the bottom of a hill, Ewoks stationed at the top of the hill unleashed stacked timber; the walker was unable to maintain its balance against the avalanche of rolling logs. Both walkers exploded.

  With most of their walkers destroyed, the Imperial ground troops were fast becoming overwhelmed by their adversaries. No matter where they ran, the Ewoks were waiting for them with stones and arrows.

  Back at the bunker, R2-D2 was still out of commission and C-3PO cringed in the doorway. Leia continued to fire at stormtroopers, keeping them at bay while Han worked on hot-wiring the door.

  Han said, “I think I got it. I got it!” The wires sparked and a connection was made, but instead of opening the access to the bunker, a second blast door slid into place in front of the first.

  As Han frowned and turned back to the wires again, Leia exchanged shots with stormtroopers in the bushes. Suddenly, a laserbolt struck her left shoulder. Leia cried out in pain and fell against the doorway.

  Han didn’t even try to find Leia’s shooter. Trying to protect her, he grabbed her and eased her down so she was sitting with her back against the base of the door’s control panel. C-3PO stepped near them and said, “Oh, Princess Leia, are you all right?”

  Han crouched to face Leia and checked her wounded arm. He said, “Let’s see.”

  “It’s not bad,” Leia said, slightly breathless.

  “Freeze!” said one of two stormtroopers, who’d appeared suddenly behind Han. Both troopers had their blaster rifles aimed at Han’s back. Han didn’t move, and kept his eyes on Leia.

  “Oh, dear,” C-3PO said.

  “Don’t move!” commanded the stormtrooper.

  Han didn’t budge. Leia shifted only slightly, just enough so Han could see that her right hand still grasped her blaster pistol. Han realized his own body blocked the stormtroopers’ view of Leia’s blaster. Then he returned his gaze to Leia. Speaking just loud enough so only she could hear, he said, “I love you.”

  “I know,” she replied.

  “Hands up!” said one of the stormtroopers. “Stand up!”

  Han raised his hands and stood up slowly, then turned. Leia’s blaster spat twice, and each shot pierced the stormtroopers’ armor-plated chests. They collapsed beside the bunker.

  As Han turned toward Leia, he saw an AT-ST walker approaching. The walker came to a stop with its cannons aimed at Han. Han raised his hands and said to Leia, “Stay back.”

  Han bravely faced the walker, and was astonished when the hatch opened at the vehicle’s roof and Chewbacca stuck his head out. The Wookiee barked triumphantly to Han.

  “Chewie!” Han said, lowering his hands and grinning from ear to ear. Then he gestured toward Leia and said, “Get down here! She’s wounded!” But before Chewbacca could move, Han said, “No, wait…” Then he turned to Leia and said, “I got an idea.”

  On the Death Star, Luke and Darth Vader were engaged in a duel that was even more vicious than their battle on Cloud City. Luke had grown stronger since their last encounter, and his skill with his lightsaber had improved greatly. As they swung at each other in the Emperor’s throne room, Luke sensed the advantage had shifted to him.

  Luke drove Vader back to the stairway that descended to the turbolifts, then kicked out with his left leg, knocking Vader from the upper platform. Vader groaned as he flipped over backward and landed on the metal floor below.

  From his throne, the Emperor watched the fight with glee. “Good,” he said. “Use your aggressive feelings, boy! Let the hate flow through you.”

  Standing at the top of the stairway, Luke watched Vader rise on the lower platform. Vader said, “Obi-Wan has taught you well.”

  Luke deactivated his lightsaber.

  “I will not fight you, father,” he said.

  Vader kept his lightsaber activated as he slowly ascended the stairs. His movement was slightly stiff and robotic, as if he were moving on damaged legs without feeling any pain. Luke wondered if Ben was right about Vader, that he was more machine than man. Then he thought, No! Darth Vader may be a mechanical monster, but not my father. Not Anakin!

  When Vader was almost beside Luke, he said, “You are unwise to lower your defenses.” He brought his lightsaber up fast, but Luke ignited his own lightsaber in time and blocked the attack. Vader swung again and again, and Luke parried each blow. Then their blades met and they maintained the contact, keeping their lightsabers braced against each other. Over the humming of the lightsabers, Luke heard Vader’s labored breathing and realized, He’s getting tired.

  Vader broke the contact and swung hard at Luke, but Luke evaded the red blur of his opponent’s weapon and jumped backward, landing in a duty post that was encircled by eight illuminated control consoles. As Vader brought his lightsaber up between two console pedestals, Luke deactivated his own lightsaber and leaped high toward the ceiling, executing a reverse flip that delivered him to a catwalk that stretched above the throne room. Landing on his feet, Luke looked down from the catwalk to see Vader, still standing beside the duty post, breathing hard.

  Luke said, “Your thoughts betray you, father. I feel the good in you…the conflict.”

  “There is no conflict,” Vader said.

  Luke moved across the catwalk so he was positioned above the stairway. Gazing down at Vader, he said, “You couldn’t bring yourself to kill me before, and I don’t believe you’ll destroy me now.”

  “You underestimate the power of the dark side,” Vader answered from below. “If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny.” His right arm moved fast, and he hurled his still-activated lightsaber up at Luke.

  Luke ducked the lightsaber, but its blade cut through the supports that held the catwalk. Luke felt the catwalk drop, and sparks showered around him as the metal supports tore from the ceiling and he tumbled to the floor below. Uninjured, he rolled under the Emperor’s elevated platform and ducked into a dark alcove.

>   Vader’s lightsaber had deactivated after it had sliced through the catwalk supports. As the Dark Lord of the Sith descended the stairs, he extended his hand and his lightsaber traveled through the air to return to his grip. Behind him, the Emperor rose from his seat, laughed, and said, “Good. Good.”

  Vader activated his lightsaber and went hunting for his son.

  Outside, Lando Calrissian’s plan was working: the Death Star had not fired at the Rebel fleet since the Rebels had brought the battle into the midst of the Star Destroyers. However, the Star Destroyers were openly firing at the Rebel cruisers and starfighters, and Lando knew the Alliance’s fate now depended on whether his allies on Endor could knock out the Death Star’s energy shield.

  From the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit, Lando sighted TIE fighters angling toward a Rebel cruiser. He said into his comlink, “Watch out. Squad at point oh-six.”

  Gray Leader said, “I’m on it, Gold Leader.”

  Red Two swooped in to lend a hand, and the TIE fighters were decimated. From his X-wing, Wedge Antilles exclaimed, “Good shot, Red Two.”

  “Now…come on, Han, old buddy,” Lando said to himself. “Don’t let me down.”

  On Endor, in the same control room within the bunker where the Rebel strike team had been apprehended, the control room commander, his second commander, a security officer, and three seated controllers believed they were winning the battle. When a transmission from an AT-ST walker was received, all six men turned to see the image of the walker’s pilot on the room’s main viewscreen.

  “It’s over, Commander,” the helmeted pilot announced. Holding his comlink over his mouth, he continued, “The Rebels have been routed. They’re fleeing into the woods. We need reinforcements to continue the pursuit.”

  The officers and controllers looked away from the viewscreen to the control room commander. He could see from their excited expressions that his men were eager to go after the Rebels. They could see that he was looking forward to it, too. “Send three squads to help,” said the commander. “Open the back door.”