Rise of the Teenage Conquerors

Episode 1.18

The cockpit was quiet as everyone but Han, who was working in the main hold, went over the instruments. It was like no one wanted to say anything and break the lull they had managed to find. Lumina wished someone would. She was tired of the suffocating silence, which felt like it was grieving with her for Ben.

Lucas still doesn't know.

Lumina glanced over at him. He needed to know, he needed to know that this world had consequences, consequences that they had never expected. "Lucas," she said quietly. "I need to tell you something."

Lucas glanced over at her. "What is it, Lu?" he asked, furrowing his brow at her serious tone.

"During the Battle of Hoth, Ben's speeder crashed," Lumina said, the words tumbling out as she tried to control her voice.

Lucas' eyes widened in disbelief as he straightened, dusting his hands off on his white pants, part of his soldier's uniform from Hoth. "Ben crashed? What happened?"

"I don't know," Lumina said softly, glancing out the cockpit window. "The monitor showed his speeder crash. There wasn't anything we could do to help. They said...they said he'd be dead."

The meaning must have hit Lucas like a truck, for all the blood drained out of his face. "No."

"I'm going to shut down everything but the emergency power systems," Han announced, striding into the cockpit. Leia and Chewbacca, who had listened to Lumina in silence, looked up as Han flicked his eyes to the console.

"Sir, I'm almost afraid to ask, but does that mean shutting me down too?" C-3PO asked cautiously.

"No," Han told him. "You're gonna talk to the Falcon and find out what's wrong."

Beneath their feet, the Falcon shifted, causing everyone to grab a chair or the console in order to keep their balance, Chewbacca grasping C-3PO's arm to prevent him from falling.

"Sir, it's quite possible this asteroid is not entirely stable," C-3PO informed Han.

"Not entirely stable?" Han spat. "I'm glad you're here to tell us these things. Chewie, take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive."

Lumina frowned as she listened. Despite her horror and grief over Ben's death, she had managed to notice that some lines of the original dialogue had changed or been omitted, while others, like the current exchange, were textbook accurate. Odd. Does it have anything to do with us, and our goal to change the story?

Chewbacca and the protocol droid left the cockpit, C-3PO complaining, "Oh! Sometimes I can't understand human behavior. After all, I am only trying to do my job in the most –"

The door closed behind them.

Again, the Falcon jerked, throwing Lucas to the floor, Lumina back into her chair, and Han and Leia into the navigator's seat, Han clutching Leia protectively. Then once again, everything was still.

"Let go," Leia demanded quietly.

"Sh," Han said, gazing out the cockpit viewport.

"Space slug," Lucas muttered. "I told you we've landed inside a space slug."

"Sh!" Han insisted.

"Let go, please," Leia commanded, and Han let go of her.

"Don't get excited," he commented.

"Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited," Leia snapped, as Lucas clambered to his feet and Lumina rose from her chair, the two exchanging raised eyebrows.