By Kellyanne Lynch
NOTE: This story takes place between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. This is during the period when the Rebels are being driven from their bases, across the galaxy. This story was written around 1993; I was thirteen or fourteen when I wrote it. Please bear that in mind as you read. I'm posting it, because I think it's more creative than I get nowadays, but the flow of the story is a little cracked.
"You must get these plans for our new base to safety in our secret underground data storage centre. It's most commonly known as UDSC. Ask anyone whom you are certain is a rebel for help. The princess will be in the marketplace. She is making a deal with them for their land. Get more information about its whereabouts from her on the way. Stay away from imperials, but be especially aware of Vader. If you are caught by him, we're doomed," Mon Mothma spoke to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2.
"Hey, I can handle it," Han smiled smugly as he took the plans from her.
"Good luck," she added.
"Thanks," Luke stood up. This task seemed a bit tough, but he was sure the Force was with him.
"Hey, kid," Han smirked. "Let's get going. Chewie, start the Falcon."
Chewbacca growled. He and the others were already inside the Millenium Falcon so this was simple. Mon Mothma left the ship.
"This does seem rather dangerous," C-3P0 commented as he took his seat. R2-D2 beeped.
"Let's get going," Han repeated, taking his seat. Chewy was beside him. "Onward to Mos Eisley!"
The ship took off from the ground.
"Where should I land the ship?" Han asked Luke. "In the middle of the action or away from it?"
"If you ask me..." C-3P0 began.
"But I didn't, Goldenrod!" Han snapped. "Luke?"
"We can land in the middle," he confirmed. "It'll be too busy there for us to be noticed."
R2 beeped.
"No, R2," Luke answered the droid. "You don't have to come if you don't want."
"But kid," Han questioned, "we need the data disk."
"I can get it out," Luke fiddled around with some gears on R2, and the disk came out.
"What are they doing with that disk?" Han asked.
"Keeping it safe," Luke answered. "We may need it later, and we don't want the imperials to take it so we'll leave it in a very secure place that is hidden, the UDSC."
"Well, being on missions like this, I think of as suicide missions," Han told Luke. "Not sure the danger is worth it."
"The odss of successfully avoiding imperial troops is..." 3P0 began.
"I don't want to hear it!" Han yelled. "Do we have to bring
him along?" He pointed to 3P0.
"Yes," Luke nodded. "There are many creatures there who speak languages we don't know. 3P0's a big help."
"You mean a big pain," Han muttered.
"Come on, Han," Luke replied. "Isn't 3P0 ever a help for you?"
"Yeah," Han recalled. "He helps me go insane with boredom sometimes."
Luke sighed. There was no point in going any further with the discussion. Besides, they were there.
Mos Eisley, as Ben Kenobi had warned Luke when they had journeyed there to look for someone with a ship to bring them to Alderaan, was full of scum and villainy. It could get pretty rough around there. Some man who had the death sentence in twelve systems wanted to kill Luke because he and his friend just didn't like Luke.
Han landed the ship at Mos Eisley spaceport. Nearby was the same canteena that Ben Kenobi and Luke had found Han and Chewy.
As soon as the ship landed, Chewy growled.
"Oh, come on, Chewy!" Han responded. "You can't stay behind, too!"
He growled again.
"Do you think we should let him?" Han asked Luke.
"It's okay," Luke assured him. "He could watch R2."
"Okay, Chewy," Han told Chewbacca. "But next time, don't chicken out on us!"
Chewy growled again.
Han, Luke, and 3P0 got out of the Millenium Falcon. The three noticed how many little shops had opend since they had last seen it. The shops sold anything from antiques to electronics.
Just then, a jawa came running up to the threesome. He talked to them in his language.
"No," 3P0 responded, who understood what the jawa was saying, (remember, 3P0 is fluent in over six million forms of communication). "Now would you leave us alone."
When the jawa left, 3P0 muttered, "Disgusting creature!"
"What did he say?" Han asked 3P0.
"He wanted you to, in the jawa's words, buy a new protocol droid to replace the old piece of junk you have."
Han smiled.
"Honestly," 3P0 went on. "Calling me, a beautifully crafted piece of fine machinery as myself a piece of junk!"
"I want to take that offer," Han looked serious.
"But sir!" 3P0 exclaimed.
"Just joking, Goldenrod! You're probably more useful to us sold as scrap metal."
"Let's get moving," Luke suggested.
The beginning of their mission was quite simple. They just went through the area of the shops, looking for the princess Leia Organa. Leia was a rebel too. It was her idea to have the next rebel base on Hoth; the empire had discovered their last base. The first time Luke had seen her, he had been put in a daze; she was so beautiful. Luke, even now, was thinking about the princess; so much in fact that he took a wrong turn and was parted from Han and 3P0.
"So should we stop for a bite to eat, or keep going?" Han was talking to Luke, who wasn't there. "Kid?" Han turned around.
"What seems to be the problem" 3P0 asked.
"Luke?" Han yelled. Then he answered the droid. "He's gone!"
"Oh dear!"
"Don't worry," Han said, "We'll find him."
Meanwhile, Luke was looking for Leia. A vender came up to him an asked him a question in a different language.
"What did he say?" Luke asked, hoping to hear 3P0's answer. When there was no answer, he looked around.
"Han!" he yelled. "3P0!"
The puzzled vender gave up and went back to his shop.
While Luke looked around for Han and 3P0, he was a nice looking woman who Luke thought if she saw a man with a protocol droid.
"Excuse me," he tapped the young lady on the shoulder. "Have you seen a man with a protocol droid?"
The woman began to turn around. "Millions of men have proto... Luke!"
"Leia?!?" Luke exclaimed. It was indeed the princess Leia. He had found her.
"So you lost Han and 3P0," she commented. "Nice going!"
"I'll find them," he assured her. "But maybe I can finish the mission first. I'm supposed to come to you for directions."
"You really think you should go finish the mission on your own?" she doubted Luke. "After all, there are a lot of imperi... Look out!"
Suddenly, an imperial stormtrooper grabbed Luke's arm. Luke struggled to get free, but two more stormtroopers came. They grabbed Luke's legs as well. There was no way to escape! They carried Luke away.
"Help!" Leia yelled. Everyone looked her way. "Han! 3P0!"
Out of the blue came two running figures toward Leia. It was Han and 3P0!
"What's wrong?" Han asked.
"The imperials got Luke!" she exclaimed. "meet me by a place caled Corellian Ships after you get Luke. I'll tell you the way to the UDSC. See you then."
Han and 3P0 went looking for Luke.
"Oh dear, oh dear!" 3P0 replied.
Meanwhile Luke was brought to a cellar. It was quite dark, and there were a small group of people around. None of them wore an imperial uniform.
The stormtroopers dropped Luke on the floor, then they took off the imperial stormtrooper uniforms. They sat on the floor with the rest of the group.
Three creatures came up from some stairs in the cellar. They were Gamorreans.
"Is this the same Luke Skywalker who destroyed the Death Star?" a man translated what one Gamorrean said.
"Yes, I am that Luke Skywalker," Luke answered. The man translated what Luke said to the Gamorrean. The Gamorrean snorted. He began to speak.
"I am Soasa," the man translated to Luke. "Korono's main guard. Well, one of them. Korono, our master, will speak to you later for what you have done with Korono's plan. He was working on a plan to rule the galaxy. He got one of his guards to become an imperial stormtrooper, though he hates the empire. The guard became a Grand Moff. Korono almost had the galaxy with his strongest guard at such a high position in the empire, but the Grand Moff died when the Death Star was destroyed."
"Who was the Grand Moff?" Luke asked.
The man translated. Then the Gamorrean answered.
"It was Grand Moff Tarkin," the man translated.
"Tarkin?!?" Luke exclaimed.
The Gamorrean went on.
"Korono," the man translated, "wants to meet you. He'll be coming in a short time. He had some business to square away first."
As soon as the man finished translating, a noise was heard. Luke looked over to an area where it steamed. A man rose up from a piece of machinery. He stepped off of it as soon as he was at the top.
The man walked closer to Luke with long strides, but Luke noticed something about him.
He wasn't a man.
He was a boy.
"I am Korono," the boy told Luke. "Leader of what you see here, all of it."
Luke looked at the boy's face. He couldn't have been fourteen. His dark brown eyes and light blond hair looked familiar from somewhere.
"But you're a kid!" Luke couldn't help but exclaim.
"So?" Korono was offended. "Who cares how old I am? I am ready to be a leader!"
Korono looked over Luke. "Aren't you just a boy?"
"Sort of," Luke admitted. "Why aren't you at home?"
"This is my home," Korono informed Luke.
"Where are your parents?"
"Don't need them."
"How old are you?"
"Old enough!"
"But how old?"
Korono held his head up high. "I'm twelve," he told Luke.
"You belong at home," Luke told him. "With your parents. How do you pay for the things you need?"
"I steal," Korono said. "There's plenty of markets to steal from."
"Stealing's wrong."
"Not when you need to."
"You don't like the empire?"
"No. I stole these stormtrooper uniforms myself!" Korono grinned.
"How about the Rebellion?"
"No."
"Why?"
"'Cause they're conceited."
Luke looked at him. "What?!?"
"They won't accept me. I was eleven when I wanted to fight with the rebels. They laughed and told me to go home. Then they accept you, and look at you. Just a boy!"
"Where do you live?"
"Here."
"But it's so dark and cold," Luke commented.
"As if you care!"
"I do."
"No, you don't. I'm not a rebel."
"So?"
"Rebels only like rebels."
"That's not true."
"Oh really."
"I care!" Luke told him. For some reason, Luke's mind was brought to the day he was in the Mos Eisley canteena. He was looking on a board behind the bar that was in the canteena. He remembered seeing a sign on it with Korono's face on it. Someone was looking for him.
"You're missing from home," Luke realised.
"How'd you know?"
"Why'd you run away?"
"I didn't run away. I just left."
"Why?"
"My friends and I thought it was unfair that we had to wait to join the Rebel Alliance. I hated it at my parents' moisture farm back home. So all my friends and I left."
Luke looked around. Now he realised that most of the people were kids.
"So I thought my friends and I could beat the empire before the rebellion, so we'd show you that jsut because we're younger doesn't mean we're no good. Everyone treats us like we're not worth anything at home."
"Do you want to go home?" Luke asked.
"Sort of," Korono answered.
"I'll take you home after my mission," Luke said. "All of you."
"Okay," Korono agreed. "My plan didn't work anyway."
"If you get any good ideas," Luke offered, "you could get in contact with the Rebel Alliance and tell me. We might beat the empire with one of your ideas."
"Okay," Korono agreed.
"Can you do me a favour?" Luke asked Korono.
"Sure!"
"Untie me?" Luke smiled.
Just then, Han blasted the door open. 3P0 came in behind Han.
"All right, Vader," Han yelled into the darkness. "I know you're in here!"
"Oh my!" 3P0 exclaimed.
"Han," Luke yelled. "I'm fine!"
"Hey," Han smiled. "It's just a kid!"
"No," Luke replied. "Someone who almost overthrew the empire."
Han looked surprised. "Leia told me to meet her at Corellian Ships after I find you. She'll tell us the location of the, um..." Han looked at Korono.
"It's okay," Luke assured Han. "He's not with the empire."
Han didn't look convinced so he didn't finish the sentence. "Are
they coming along?" Han asked.
"Yes," Luke nodded. "I'm bringing them to their homes after the task is completed."
"Okay," Han agreed, "but then we go to our base."
Han, Luke, 3P0, Korono, and the children left the cellar to find the princess.
"This time," Han warned Luke, "don't get lost."
After a while of searching, the group found Corellian Ships. There, at the door of the building, was the princess Leia. She smiled when she saw them.
"We must hurry," Leia warned. "Imperials are now checking Mos Eisley for our base. They might find the... who are they?" she pointed to Korono and his group.
"Never mind," Luke shook his head. "Where's the UDSC?"
"There's an antique store near here. Right next to it is a stairway that goes down to a locked door. Knock on the door. A guard will ask you for the password. The password is Jabba the Hutt."
"Got it," Luke nodded.
"Good luck," Leia went on. "See you at our new base." Leia left.
The group searched around for the antique shop. It wouldn't have taken them so long if there weren't so many street venders, begging for customers.
"Hey Luke," Han suggested. "Why don't you take the kids home while I bring the disk to the UDSC, okay?"
"Meet you back at Mos Eisley spaceport," Luke answered.
Luke looked at the group. "Who lives close to here?"
"I do," a few kids answered.
"Do you live together?"
They nodded.
Luke and the children looked for the house.
Meanwhile, Han had found the entrance of the UDSC. He and 3P0 walked down the stairs to the door. Han knocked softly on the door.
"The password," they heard a deep voice request.
"Jabba the Hutt," Han answered clearly.
"What's your business?"
"We have the data for the new base," 3P0 answered.
The door opened. There stood a tall Bothan with a blaster.
"Han?" the Bothan asked. "Is that you?"
"Hey, Taysa!" Han exclaimed. "Give up smuggling?"
"Yeah," Taysa said. "You know. The rebellion needs help."
"Yeah," Han agreed, "but I'm going back to smuggling after the mission. I mean, once that base is set up, they won't need me around anyway. Besides, a man's got to make a living."
Taysa nodded.
"Well here's the disk," Han handed Taysa the disk. "I'd better get going. I'm here with a kid named Luke Skywalker. I'm meeting him back..." Han saw Taysa's surprised expression. "What?"
"Is that
the Luke Skywalker? The one who destroyed the Death Star?"
"Hey! He wouldn't have been able to destroy it without my help."
"True," Taysa nodded.
"Take it easy," Han opend the door.
"'bye, Han," Taysa said as Han left.
Han and 3P0 headed back to the Millenium Falcon. Now they would get ready to go to their new rebel base on the ice world of Hoth.
When they got to Mos Eisley spaceport, Han and 3P0 found Luke standing outside the ship.
"All the kids are home?" Han asked. Luke nodded.
"Well, I don't know about you," Han began, "but I'm not sad to see this mission completed."
"Well I am. I want to know what Korono and the other kids are going to do. It reminds me of when I was living at my Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's moisture farm. Korono's like me, looking for adventure. I hope to see him part of the rebellion someday."
"You really hope it lasts that long, kid?"
Luke smirked. "Maybe not then."
When they got inside, they found Chewbacca and R2 patiently waiting.
"Ready to go?" Han asked Chewbacca, who growled.
"Then let's go."
Han and Chewbacca started up the ship's engine. They were off to Hoth where they would go to the new rebel base. Hopefully, the empire wouldn't discover this one.
Luke looked out the window of the Millenium Falcon. Somewhere on Tatooine was a boy longing for adventure...
And Luke hoped he would find it.
THE END