Rise of the Teenage Conquerors

Episode 1.28

The X-Wings came out of hyperspace, Bespin appearing in their viewports. Leana took a breath, preparing herself for the duel that would occur below. I hope everyone's all right, she thought, knowing the torture Vader had in store for them. Please, please, let Lucas, Lumina, and Ben be okay.

"See it?" Luke's voice said, coming over the comlink.

"Yeah," Leana replied. How could I miss it?

"They have to be there," Luke said, worry tinging his tone.

"They will be," Leana said, conviction filling her voice. "They will be, Luke." They will be there because that's exactly where Vader wants you.

****

Lucas moaned. Instead of the earsplitting siren he was expecting, a horrid rap song was playing at a deafening level and there was nothing either Lucas or Chewbacca could do to escape it. They were both stuck in the same cell. Chewbacca was barking in pain as Lucas lay in the corner, his head pressed up against the wall with his sweatshirt hood pulled up, hands squeezed against his ears. His efforts accomplished next to nothing, but there was nothing else he could do.

Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up....

Lucas had no idea how long he laid there until gradually, the rap song seemed to have been turned down. Cautiously, he unplugged his ears and rolled over, grimacing at the awful choice of lyrics. Chewbacca seemed to be experiencing the same disorientation and disgust he felt.

"Did they turn it off?" Lucas asked, his voice loud even to him. He felt like he had lost most of his hearing, and couldn't tell if the song was still there or not.

Chewbacca moaned and nodded before shaking his head as if to rid himself of the remnants of noise.

"Ow," Lucas groaned, easing up onto his feet and pulling off his sweatshirt hood. "That hurt. I can still hear the echoes of the beatboxing."

As the two glanced around the cell, they both noticed the case filled with C-3PO's parts sitting on the metal bench. With nothing else to do but listen to the awful song fade away in their ears, Lucas and Chewbacca headed over to the bench and sat on opposite ends, beginning to go through the parts and assemble the droid.

Lucas welcomed the distraction, welcomed the option to focus his mind entirely on something else. He loved working with machines, anything from car engines to dirt bikes to appliances, figuring out how everything worked. The familiar routine was comforting, especially since he was currently residing in space jail.

The Wookiee and the boy worked in companionable and much welcomed silence, Lucas holding the head in place as Chewbacca connected the wires on the front, then switching as Lucas figured out the wires on the back while Chewbacca balanced the droid's head. As soon as he flicked on the circuit controlling the vocorder, words sputtered out of C-3PO's mouth, falling over each other in swift succession.

"Oh my. Uh I, uh – don't get up, please don't! I don't mean any harm! Oh! Stormtroopers? Here? We're in danger. I must warn the others."

"Bit late for that," Lucas muttered, as C-3PO's eyes began to glow with life.

"Wait a minute, I've been shot!" the droid exclaimed.

"Again, no duh," Lucas sighed, earning a wuffle of agreement from the Wookiee as C-3PO launched into a tirade of complaints.

****

Ben wasn't sure what to expect when he and Han were forced into a chamber, filled with Imperial torture devices. He knew that he should be expecting torture, given the circumstances, but was really hoping to get off with a warning this time, maybe a slap on the wrist.