Mastermind

Part Three

After Erda and Han were tortured, two stormtroopers carried either to the cell in which Chewbacca, Threepio and Leia were being kept before being dumped onto the floor. Chewbacca picked them both up and carried them over to two tables and laid them both down as they said how terrible they felt. Leia knelt down beside Erda and stroked his head, running her fingers through his hair as the sight of his weakness pained her. 

"Why are they doing this?" She asked sadly and kissed his forehead.

Han stared at the ceiling and said, "They never even asked us any questions."

A door opened, from where two of Lando's men and Lando himself entered the room. Chewbacca roared at him as Han began to chastise him.

"Shut up and listen. Now, Vader's agreed to turn Leia and Chewie over to me." Lando began to explain as Leia sat behind Erda with her hands on his shoulders and Han doing the same. "They'll have to stay here but at least they'll be safe." 

"What about Han?" Leia asked in a dull voice. 

"Vader's given him to the bounty hunter!" 

"Vader wants us all dead--" 

"He doesn't want you at all! He wants someone called, uh, Skywalker. Lord Vader set a trap for him!" Lando yelled in frustration with the deal he made with Vader being altered.

Everyone felt dread by this, now realising that they were all bait. 

"And we're the bait!" Leia exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, now he's on his way."

Han struggled to stand as he wound up to punch Lando by surprise when one of the guards hit Han and the other pointed his blaster at Leia, Chewbacca and Erda.

"I've done all I can. I'm sorry I couldn't do better but I got my own problems." Lando said in frustration.

"Yeah... you're a real hero," Han exerted.

Lando and his men left as Leia and Chewbacca lifted Han up to lie him down again. Upon Luke's arrival to Cloud City, Vader planned on testing the carbine freezing facility on Han. It was at that time that Han and Erda had regained their strength as they were escorted by Imperial troops and the bounty hunter to the chamber while Chewbacca carried Threepio on his back in a net.

"What's goin' on, buddy?" Han asked Lando spitefully.

Without looking away from Vader and his men, Lando whispered, "You're being put into carbine freeze."

"What if he doesn't survive? He means a lot to me," said the bounty hunter.

"The Empire will compensate you if he dies. But... the Jedi will do well to your collection." Vader answered, smiling evilly as Erda looked at him wide-eyed, astounded at how he knew.

Chewbacca lashed out at three stormtroopers in outrage as Han calmed the Wookie down.

"HEY! Hey, listen to me! Chewie! Chewie, this won't help me! Hey! Save your strength. There'll be another time. The princess and the kid. You have to take care of them. You hear me? Huh?" Han raised his voice in order to calm Chewbacca down.

Chewbacca roared sadly, knowing that he won't see his best friend again, or at least, for a while. As two stormtroopers lined Han up on a platform that he was being lowered in, he looked at his two human friends and said goodbye before he was put into carbine freeze. They were horrified at the case Han was trapped in, to see him so statue and undeserved of this fate. 

"It should've been me," Erda murmured guiltily for his friend's misfortune.

"Soon enough," said Vader. 

As Lando checked Han's status, he reported to Vader that Han was indeed alive. "Yes, he's alive. And in perfect hibernation."

"Put the Jedi in. Reset the chamber for Skywalker." Vader's voice boomed as he pointed at Erda, to his dismay. 

"NO!!" Leia cried as seeing Han get frozen was enough to bring her to the brink of tears.

As two stormtroopers put Erda into place, he resisted as best he could as Boba led two stormtroopers and two Bespin guards along with a carbonated Han Solo to his ship, the Slave I. Fortunately, an Imperial officer reported to Vader that Luke had landed. This notification saved Erda the same fate as Han as Leia, Chewbacca, Erda and Threepio were taken away by a group of stormtroopers and Lando when Luke stumbled upon his friends being taken away. By surprise, Lobot and a group of Bespin guards ambushed the group of Imperials and confiscated their weapons before they were all taken away. Lando handed Leia the two blasters he took from two stormtroopers and freed Erda first before freeing Chewbacca.

"What do you think you're doing?" Leia confronted him.

"Getting you out of here," Lando responded quickly, panting.

"You think that what you did to Han - almost doing the same to Erda - that we're going to trust you?!" 

Once Chewbacca was free, he groped his hands around Lando's neck and started strangling him.

"I, had... no choice..." Lando choked out. 

"Oh, we understand, don't we? That he had 'no choice'!" Leia spoke harshly.

"Just... trying... to... help."

"We don't need any of your help."

"H-H-Ha... Han... There's still a chance to save Han! At... at, the east... platform..."

Finally, Chewbacca let him go and followed Leia and Erda to the platform Lando specified where they arrived too late as the ship was taking off when Erda reached out to the Force and stopped the ship from taking off. Leia was shocked to see him perform such an act, though the ship's engines and boosters made it harder for him to keep the ship from leaving as Erda began to drag along the platform very quickly when four stormtroopers opened fire on them, forcing them to take cover. A stray shot hit Erda in his left thigh, causing him to lose all concentration as he fell onto his side and clutched his thigh when Leia abandoned her place to run after him. 

Dropping her gun, Leia grabbed his arm and pulled him up to his feet and picked up their weapons as Chewbacca disposed of the stormtroopers. As they fled to the Falcon, Lobot remained behind to dispose of the Imperial garrison in Cloud City. At the same time they made their way to the Falcon, Luke fought Vader despite being strongly advised not to for his lack of training, which was a big disadvantage for Luke against Vader who dominated him and severed his right hand. 

As Chewbacca flew the Falcon back to Cloud City when Leia and Erda felt that Luke was in trouble, they flew directly under and found him hanging on to an antenna for dear life. Three TIE fighters pursued them when Lando helped Luke into the ship from where Leia tended to an injured Luke Skywalker and tended his severed hand while Chewbacca and Erda acted quickly to fix the hyperdrive as a Star Dreadnought pursued them. It wasn't until a smart Artoo Deetoo managed to override the hyperdrive, allowing them to flee.