The Empire Strikes Back (Junior Novelization)

by Ryder Windham

  Fett had correctly calculated that the Millennium Falcon had never actually escaped from the Avenger, and had only avoided detection. Now, as he accelerated after Han Solo’s ship, it seemed his calculations would pay off.

  Slave I had long-range sensor scopes and an illegal masking-and-jamming system that made it virtually invisible on most scanners. The special technology had allowed Boba Fett to infiltrate the Imperial Fleet, locate the Millennium Falcon, and maneuver Slave I into the Avenger’s debris trail without alerting anyone to his presence. Fett was so confident in Slave I’s supreme stealth that he kept the escaping Falcon within visual range as he computed its trajectory.

  Fett checked his computer readout: The Rebel ship was heading for the Bespin system. As the Falcon was traveling at sublight speed, the bounty hunter concluded there was something wrong with the ship’s hyperdrive. And because Slave I’s hyperdrive was fully operational, Fett knew he’d be able to reach Bespin before Solo.

  The bounty hunter considered his next move, then transmitted a coded message to the Executor.

  On Dagobah, R2-D2 stood near some equipment cases and watched as Yoda continued to instruct Luke. The Jedi trainee was yet again standing on his hands with his feet extended up, but R2-D2 noticed Yoda had refrained from perching on one of Luke’s feet this time, opting instead to remain on the ground.

  Yoda said, “Concentrate.”

  Luke closed his eyes. Two equipment cases rose from the ground, then hung suspended in the air.

  “Feel the Force flow,” Yoda said, his voice soothing. “Yes.”

  The astromech droid felt himself being lifted, and momentarily thought he might have unwittingly stepped on the back of a rising creature. When he realized the only thing between him and the ground was Luke’s will, the little droid beeped nervously.

  “Good,” Yoda said. “Calm, yes. Through the Force, things you will see.”

  Still standing on his hands, Luke opened his eyes, then closed them again.

  “Other places,” Yoda continued. “The future…the past. Old friends long gone.”

  Suddenly, Luke’s mind was overwhelmed by an unexpected vision. His eyes opened wide and he shouted, “Han! Leia!”

  The suspended objects fell to the ground. Unlike the equipment cases, R2-D2 screeched on the way down. Luke tumbled and rolled over onto his side.

  Yoda shook his head. “Hmm. Control, control. You must learn control.”

  Luke looked dazed and rattled. He wanted to tell Yoda about the vision, but wasn’t sure how to put it into words. Hesitantly, he said, “I saw…I saw a city in the clouds.”

  “Mmm,” Yoda muttered. “Friends you have there.”

  Luke looked anguished as he recalled, “They were in pain.”

  Yoda nodded. “It is the future you see.”

  “Future?” Luke said with alarm. “Will they die?”

  Yoda closed his eyes, meditated briefly, then opened his eyes and gazed at Luke. “Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”

  Luke thought, If I saw the future, is it also possible for me to change it? He pushed himself up from the ground and said, “I’ve got to go to them.”

  Yoda sighed. “Decide you must how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could. But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered.”

  Luke couldn’t stand the thought of his friends suffering. He thought, Could Yoda be right? If I try to help, would I really be doing the wrong thing? He gazed hard at Yoda, hoping the Jedi Master would suggest other alternatives for action, or interpret brighter possibilities for the future.

  Yoda remained silent. And in the silence, Luke knew there was nothing left to say, because Yoda was right: The future was difficult to see.

  Luke nodded sadly.

  And Yoda knew Luke had already decided what to do.

  The Cloud City Control Wing Guard pilot was getting on Han Solo’s nerves.

  “No, I don’t have a landing permit,” Han snarled into the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit comlink.

  Behind Han, Leia leaned forward and looked left, past Chewbacca and out the cockpit window, to see the two twin-pod cloud cars that had appeared from out of nowhere. The cloud cars were so close that Leia could distinguish the Wing Guard pilot whose mouth moved in synchronization with the voice from the comlink.

  Leia thought, Welcome to Bespin.

  Bespin was a giant, gaseous planet, a world of billowing clouds and endless sky. Its atmosphere was a prime source of valuable Tibanna gas, which was used as either a conducting agent to boost blaster firepower or a hyperdrive coolant. The world was also home to Cloud City, the largest of the airborne Tibanna factories, and the Falcon’s destination.

  The Falcon had descended through Bespin’s upper altitudes until it entered a narrow band of breathable air. Not only breathable, but breathtaking for its sweeping views of cloud formations. The initial sight of Bespin had seemed warm and inviting, especially to those who’d so recently endured the frigid climate of Hoth. But when the two twin-pod cloud cars had suddenly swooped into view, it had become quickly evident that the Bespin skies were far from entirely friendly.

  Han said into the comlink, “I’m trying to reach Lando Calrissian.” He’d barely uttered Lando’s name when the nearest cloud car fired a blaster cannon and flak exploded outside the Falcon. “Whoa!” Han shouted. “Wait a minute! Let me explain.”

  From the Falcon’s intercom, the Cloud City Wing Guard pilot said, “You will not deviate from your present course.”

  “Rather touchy, aren’t they?” a reactivated C-3PO commented from the seat behind Chewbacca.

  To Han, Leia said, “I thought you knew this person.”

  Chewie barked and growled at Han. Han replied, “Well, that was a long time ago. I’m sure he’s forgotten about that.”

  From the intercom, the Cloud City Wing Guard said, “Permission granted to land on Platform three-two-seven.”

  Han wanted to say something else into the comlink, but instead he said, “Thank you,” and switched off.

  Chewbacca looked at Han and grunted. Han glanced back at Leia and C-3PO and said, “There’s nothing to worry about. We go way back, Lando and me.”

  “Who’s worried?” said Leia, clinging to her seat.

  The two cloud cars escorted the Falcon across the sky, and it wasn’t long before Cloud City came into view. Sixteen kilometers in diameter and seventeen kilometers tall, the 392-level floating city resembled an immense wheel lying on its side. The entire city was held aloft by 3,600 repulsorlift engines, and had a long central stalk that dropped down beneath it and ended in a unipod. The unipod used tractor beams to draw Tibanna gas up into the city’s gas refineries.

  As the Falcon neared the city, Leia could see it was slowly rotating, and that the cityscape had a rounded, decorative design with tall towers and wide plazas. The long shadows of streamlined skyscrapers swept over the Falcon’s exterior as it passed over the city. The two cloud cars stuck with the Corellian transport.

  Platform 327 was a circular platform at the end of an extended walkway that was connected to an upper level of a skyscraper. The Falcon’s landing jets fired, and the ship touched down neatly. The cloud car escorts flew off.

  Steam vented from the jet exhausts as the ship’s landing ramp lowered. Han stepped down to the platform, followed by Chewbacca, Leia, and a very hesitant C-3PO. They looked to the far end of the platform, where a rectangular door was visible against the high wall of the skyscraper. The door was closed.

  “Oh,” C-3PO said. “No one to meet us.”

  They remained at the bottom of the landing ramp, watching the distant door and waiting. A warm wind moaned softly across the city.

  Leia said, “I don’t like this.”

  “Well, what would you like?” Han snapped, as if they had any options.

  Hoping to sound optimistic, C-3PO stated, “Well, they did let us land.”

  �
�Look, don’t worry,” Han said, turning to Leia. “Everything’s going to be fine. Trust me.”

  At the end of the platform, the rectangular door slid up to reveal two men engaged in a discussion. Because of the distance and the light from inside the open doorway, the two appeared as silhouettes, but Han’s keen eyes recognized one of them.

  “See?” Han said to Leia, gesturing to the doorway. “My friend.”

  The two men exited the door and were followed by six uniformed guards. Together, they headed up the walkway toward the Falcon.

  Han stepped over to Chewbacca and muttered, “Keep your eyes open, huh?”

  Chewbacca let out a growl as Han headed down the walkway.

  As the figures approached, Leia was able to make out the two who walked in front of the six guards. The taller one was a dashing brown-skinned man with wavy black hair and a thin mustache; a silk-lined blue cape was draped across his shoulders and, from the way he moved, he looked like the man in charge. The other man was bald with pale white skin, and was primarily distinguished by the computer bracket that was wrapped around the back of his hairless head.

  Han smiled at the approaching couple and said, “Hey?”

  The caped man stopped two meters shy of Han. He fixed Han with an angry glare, then shook his head and said, “Why, you slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler! You’ve got a lot of guts coming here after what you pulled.”

  Han pointed to himself innocently, and silently mouthed, Me?

  The caped man walked slowly toward Han until the two men were face-to-face. Then, without warning, he moved fast and threw a jab at Han. Han blocked with his arm, but the jab was a fake, and the man threw his arms around Han and embraced him. Clearly, whatever gripe Lando Calrissian had with Han was a thing of the past.

  Lando laughed and his face broke into the most incredibly winning smile. He said, “How you doing, you old pirate?”

  The bald man with the computer bracket around his head saw that the situation was under control. He turned to the guards and pointed at the door behind them. The guards filed back with the bald man.

  Holding Han at arm’s length, Lando said, “So good to see you! I never thought I’d catch up with you again. Where you been?”

  From the Falcon’s landing ramp, the golden droid observed, “Well, he seems very friendly.”

  Leia said, “Yes…very friendly.” She followed close to C-3PO as he stepped away from the ramp, and couldn’t help but think, He’s almost too friendly.

  “What are you doing here?” Lando asked Han.

  “Ahh…repairs,” Han said, indicating the Falcon. “I thought you could help me out.”

  Lando wore an expression of mild panic as he looked at the Falcon and said, “What have you done to my ship?”

  “Your ship?” Han said, trying not to lose his cool. “Hey, remember, you lost her to me fair and square.”

  Lando grinned. Looking past Han, he caught the Wookiee’s gaze. “And how are you doing, Chewbacca? You still hanging around with this loser?”

  Chewbacca growled a reserved greeting and maintained his distance. Leia thought, Chewie doesn’t trust this guy either.

  Then Lando took sudden notice of the young woman who moved up behind Han with a protocol droid. Smiling at Leia, he said, “Hello. What have we here?” He moved close to her and said in his most engaging voice, “Welcome. I’m Lando Calrissian. I’m the administrator of this facility. And who might you be?”

  “Leia.”

  “Welcome, Leia,” Lando said with a bow; he then smoothly took Leia’s left hand, cupped it in his own, and kissed the back of her glove.

  Leia threw a desperate glance at Han. Returning her gaze to Lando, who still held her hand, she thought, So much for gloves discouraging kisses.

  “All right, all right, you old smoothie,” Han said as he took Leia’s hand and steered her away from Lando.

  Seeing Lando’s now-empty hand, C-3PO stepped right up and took it. “Hello, sir. I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations. My facilities are at your—”

  The protocol droid would have continued, but the still-smiling Lando had already released the mechanical hand and was walking after Han and Leia, who were moving down the walkway and heading for the door. Outraged, C-3PO exclaimed, “Well, really!” Then he noticed Chewbacca was also heading for the door, and started after him. C-3PO paused only briefly on the walkway to gaze at the city skyline. Cloud City was a very impressive sight, even to a droid.

  Lando caught up alongside Han and asked, “What’s wrong with the Falcon?”

  “Hyperdrive.”

  “I’ll get my people to work on it,” Lando promised.

  “Good,” Han said.

  Without breaking his stride, Lando turned to Leia and said, “You know, that ship saved my life quite a few times. She’s the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.”

  “How’s the gas mine?” Han asked, wanting to change the subject from his ship. “Is it still paying off for you?”

  “Oh, not as well as I’d like,” Lando admitted as they walked through the open doorway and proceeded through a white-walled corridor. “We’re a small outpost and not very self-sufficient. And I’ve had supply problems of every kind. I’ve had labor difficulties.…”

  Han laughed.

  Lando asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “You,” Han said. “Listen to you—you sound like a businessman, a responsible leader. Who’d have thought that, huh?”

  Lando looked at Han and grinned. “You know, seeing you brings back a few things.”

  “Yeah,” Han said, and tossed what he hoped was a reassuring glance to Leia, who was right behind him with Chewbacca and C-3PO.

  “Yeah,” Lando echoed. “I’m responsible these days. It’s the price you pay for being successful.”

  Han and Lando laughed as the group passed a closed door on the corridor wall. C-3PO was walking right behind Chewbacca when the door slid open to reveal a silver-metal protocol droid. Despite its different color, the silver droid appeared to be the same model as C-3PO. C-3PO stopped in his tracks.

  “Oh!” C-3PO said. “Nice to see a familiar face.”

  The silver droid glanced at the golden droid and mumbled, “E chu ta!” Then the silver droid stepped from the open doorway and brushed past.

  “How rude!” C-3PO exclaimed as the droid walked off. C-3PO was about to turn and catch up with Chewbacca and the others when he heard a beeping sound come from the open doorway. Curious, C-3PO entered a narrow room, then heard another round of beeps from an adjoining chamber.

  “That sounds like an Artoo unit in there,” C-3PO said. “I wonder if…”

  He followed the beeping noise into the next chamber, which had walls that were covered with pipes, gauges, and complex mechanisms. Not immediately seeing anyone, C-3PO called out, “Hello? Hello?” No response. Then he glanced around the room and commented, “How interesting.”

  “Who are you?” snapped a man’s voice from the other side of the chamber.

  C-3PO had to turn his head to face the speaker. And after he turned, he suddenly wished he had never entered the room. He tried to sound calm as he replied, “Who am I?” He wanted to get out immediately, and started to back up as he continued, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. I…I didn’t mean to intrude.” He took a few more cautious steps backward and gestured pleadingly with his arms. “No, no, please don’t get up.” Then he threw his arms up defensively and cried, “No!”

  There was a sudden explosion of blaster fire. A laser bolt slammed into C-3PO’s chest. His upper torso smashed into the wall behind him and his head launched into the air. The rest of his body went everywhere else.

  A smoldering gold metal foot and part of one leg clattered across the floor and skidded to a stop just shy of the doorway that remained opened to the corridor. The door slid shut a moment before Chewbacca—having retraced his own steps—came back looking for C-3PO.

  Chewbacca sniff
ed the air and smelled blaster fumes. Was that an unusual smell in a city that processed Tibanna gas for use in blasters? Chewbacca wasn’t sure, but he did know that the protocol droid had been right behind him just a moment ago. So where had the droid gone?

  The Wookiee growled. Something didn’t smell right, and it wasn’t just the scent of blasters. But since he couldn’t see any sign of C-3PO, he turned and headed back down the corridor to rejoin his other friends.

  It was night on Dagobah. R2-D2 was on top of the X-wing starfighter, moving into his socket behind the cockpit. Luke, wearing his orange g-suit, was loading a case onto the ship. Yoda stood on a nearby knoll and watched Luke. The Jedi Master didn’t look happy.

  “Luke!” Yoda said. “You must complete the training.”

  “I can’t keep the vision out of my head,” Luke replied as he hastily inspected his ship. “They’re my friends. I’ve got to help them.”

  “You must not go!” Yoda insisted.

  Luke faced Yoda and said, “But Han and Leia will die if I don’t.”

  From out of the darkness, Ben Kenobi’s voice spoke: “You don’t know that.”

  To Luke’s amazement, a slightly shimmering light began to glow in the air behind Yoda. Then the light materialized into the form of old Ben. The luminous Jedi wore a grave expression as he said, “Even Yoda cannot see their fate.”

  “But I can help them!” Luke argued. “I feel the Force!”

  “But you cannot control it,” Ben said. “This is a dangerous time for you, when you will be tempted by the dark side of the Force.”

  Yoda agreed, “Yes, yes. To Obi-Wan you listen. The cave. Remember your failure at the cave!”

  “But I’ve learned so much since then, Master Yoda,” Luke said as he returned his attention to his X-wing. “I promise to return and finish what I’ve begun. You have my word.”

  Ben explained, “It is you and your abilities the Emperor wants. That is why your friends are made to suffer.”