A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Away

Chapter 65

Boba Fett ignited his rocket pack and flew down to the prisoner's skiff from the barge just as the last guard was dispatched. After the loss of Han on Bespin, he had returned to Tatooine to see if there were any other jobs he could do while he waited for a new idea or a good lead to capture the smuggler. To his surprise, Han had come to Jabba himself, and therefore any profitable bounties on the smuggler no longer mattered.

Needless to say, it had put the Mandalorian in a mood.

Obi-Wan had jumped over to the other skiff with Anakin following before Boba landed. It was Jedi rule-of-thumb that when you're outnumbered, you attack. Theoretically, it would draw fire away from the prisoner skiff and onto them. The two Jedi also managed to scare the living daylights out of the other guards in the process.

It was while the famous duo was busy on the other skiff that problems began to arise. The large cannon on the upper deck of the barge began firing at the prisoner skiff, making it tilt at a forty-five degree angle. Luke had been preparing to follow Obi-Wan and his father over, but had to instead find a way to stay on his feet. Han, who had gained control of the skiff was nearly thrown over, managing to grab onto a broken strut at the last second.

"Woah! Chewie! Kid! A little help!" Han yelled, glancing down at the Sarlacc's maw in worry. The skiff took another direct hit, throwing Chewie and Padmé into the railing hard. Boda landed on the skiff a moment later as Luke turned and, being the only real line of defense against the bounty hunter considering where the other two Jedi were at the moment, cut Boba's gun in half. Chewie howled in pain, having been wounded at some point, drawing Luke's attention for a moment. Boba used the distraction to fire a cable out of his armored sleeve, aimed at the young Jedi. It wrapped around Luke several times, pinning his arms to his sides. Padmé shot several blasts at the bounty hunter while Luke bent his wrists so his lightsaber pointed up, cutting the cable and freeing himself.

The skiff was hit with another barrage of laser fire, knocking Boba unconscious onto the deck. Luke was shaken, but unhurt and still standing. Chewie and Padmé had been low enough to not be that effected.

Unfortunately, Han had been affected. The explosion knocked the strut Han had desperately been holding onto out of place, sending him into the pit and towards the Sarlacc's mouth. He hit the sandy slope hard and tried to climb out, only managing to slide down deeper.

Luke glanced around. For the moment, they seemed to be in the clear, the only big worries being the barge's cannons and Han's predicament. Obi-Wan and Anakin were still dealing with the other skiff, so no help from there. Han was pretty far down, and unless Luke wanted to risk falling in himself, he wasn't about to hang over the edge to try and help Han grab something.

Thankfully, Luke had a better idea, he just had to hope that the person firing at them would hold of for a few moments.

"Don't move!" he yelled down to Han before glancing at Padmé. "Cover me." She nodded, eyeing the fallen bounty hunter. Luke turned off his lightsaber, placing it on his belt before wrapping a free rope around his hand, so he wouldn't be completely thrown off if the skiff was hit again. Satisfied, Luke turned his attention back to Han.

Reaching out with the Force, he closed his eyes and raised his free hand, invisoning Han being raised up off the sand and back to the safety of the skiff. Luke knew that this was not to time for his lacking in telekinesis skills to reamerge, so he thought only of what he wanted to do, what he would do, and not of what would happen if he failed.

Han, for his part, only yelped in surprise when an invisible Force began to raise him up off the ground. He wasn't necessary a full believer, but it didn't take him long to guess what was happening. He decided to keep his mouth shut so the kid wouldn't lose his concentration and accidentally send Han back into the pit.