Star Wars_ Rebel Force 2_ Hostage - Alex Wheeler [40]
Chewbacca roared, charging the door with his Ryk blade held high. The stormtrooper fired wildly, sending a blast straight into Var Lyonn, who shrieked and dropped to the ground. Before the stormtrooper could reload, Chewbacca had grabbed his blaster and twisted it out of his hands—then he set to work twisting the stormtrooper.
"Oh dear, Artoo, where do you think you're going?" C-3PO cried from his hiding spot.
But the little astromech droid ignored him, rolling steadily toward the door. He positioned himself in its path, just as it was sliding shut.
C-3PO dodged the laserbolts flying all around him to join his stubborn counterpart.
"You simply must get out of there," he insisted. "You're a droid, not a doorstop."
R2-D2 beeped indignantly.
"Why I'm most certainly doing something to help," C-3PO protested. "I'm offering my opinion on how things should proceed." He turned toward the battle, shaking his golden arms in the air. "Uh, I suggest you shoot at that stormtrooper, Captain Solo. Oh, dear, Master Luke, you might want to get out of the way!"
"Stop wasting my time and let's go find the princess!" Han shouted, knocking out the last stormtrooper. The melted, carbon-scored plasteel armor would be no use as a disguise now. But that likely didn't matter, since the stormtroopers had called for reinforcements.
They'd lost the element of surprise.
He vaulted over R2-D2 and sailed through the open door. "Good job, little guy," he called back to the droid, as the others hurtled through the opening.
"Why, thank you, sir," C-3PO answered for both of them. "We live to serve."
"Find the nearest computer terminal," Han ordered the droids. "See if you can get some information for us." But he didn't have much hope. If the Imperials were just using this as a temporary base, there was little chance they'd upload the location of their prisoner into the computer system. Still, he'd try anything. He could already hear the drumbeat of armored boots thudding down the hail, straight for them. Things were about to get very dangerous, very fast.
They strapped her to a flat slab of durasteel. Leia didn't struggle—she didn't want to waste her strength. She suspected she would need everything she had for what was to come.
She had been tortured before, and survived.
Even if there were moments when, torn apart by the pain, she'd wished that she hadn't.
Stun cuffs pinned her wrists and ankles to the durasteel. The stormtroopers snapped another set of binders across her chest, her waist, and her neck. She was completely immobilized.
No fear, she reminded herself.
Whatever they did to her, she would never betray the Rebel Alliance. Never.
Once she was immobilized, the stormtroopers marched out, their feet pounding the floor in unison. She was left in a silence broken only by her ragged breathing.
Then, footsteps. A Pau'an, with a gaunt, gray face, clawed hands, and a long black robe. He smiled. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess Leia."
She spit in his face.
The Pau'an jerked away, swiping the gob of saliva away with the back of his hand. She allowed herself a small moment of satisfaction.
"You'll tell me what I want to know, Princess," the Pau'an said in a pinched voice.
"I'm surprised to see a Pau'an working for the Emperor," Leia replied calmly, as if they were having a polite chat. "Given that he's turned your world into a planet of Imperial slaves."
"Not slaves, Your Highness," the alien hissed. "Willing servants of our Imperial masters. True, the Emperor prefers to fill out his ranks with human officers…but some of you humans tend to get rather squeamish about torture. Whereas I'll do anything to get the information I desire. And, just between you and me—I'll enjoy it."
The binder restraining her neck was tight enough that she couldn't turn her head. So she closed her eyes. Rough thumbs pressed against her lids, dragging them open. "Look at me," he ordered.
As if she had a choice.
"First: The name of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Next: Everything you know about