Leana watched Cloud City come into view as she and Luke descended through the atmosphere. Despite what she knew was coming once they landed, the city itself was still breathtaking, like a place out of a dream. "Beautiful," Luke said over the comm, as if reading her thoughts.

"Yeah," Leana said absently. "It's still a trap, though."

"Shut up," Luke muttered.

****

"Lord Vader."

Vader turned away from surveying the carbon-freezing chamber to face Captain Dan, who stood at rigid attention. "Two ships approaching, both X-Wing class."

"Skywalker and the fourth disturbance," Vader murmured. He had captured the other three, although only two of them seemed like any type of threat. None of them could touch the Force, despite causing the disturbance he had felt before tracking the Rebels to Hoth. But the last one...the last one pulsed in the Force, a living creature compared to the others in her Force signature. And she was coming to Cloud City with Luke Skywalker, his son.

At last.

****

Ben swallowed as he, Lucas, Lumina, Leia, Chewbacca, and Han were marched to the carbon freezing chamber that would giftwrap Han for Jabba the Hutt. Vader, Boba Fett, Captain Dan, and Fred the Officer were standing on the other side of the freezing shaft, trying to look ominous. Vader certainly fit the part, but he should have picked more intimidating minions.

Lando and Lobot were positioned near the Rebel group. C-3PO, sitting in a net strapped to Chewbacca's back, was grumpy about not getting to see what everyone else was seeing, but Lucas had threatened to switch his vocorder off if he didn't keep quiet. The protocol droid had called his bluff, resulting in Lucas disconnecting the necessary wires. Now, with his vocorder restored, he kept mercifully quiet. Ben was grateful.

"I wish I knew what was happening," Han murmured. "Lumina, do you know?"

"Oh, so you're asking me now?" Lumina snapped. Ben laid a hand on her shoulder, silently urging her to calm down.

"Come on," Han appealed. "I said I was sorry."

Lumina was silent for a moment, her lips pressed angrily into a thin line. "You are going into carbon freeze," she said eventually.

"Carbon freeze?" Han repeated, alarmed. "What?"

"You are going to be frozen in carbonite and given to Jabba the Hutt," Lumina said stiffly. "Remember I said this when you get rescued."

Unless we get to you before Boba Fett leaves Cloud City. Then forget all about Lu's predictions here.

"Sounds painful," Han remarked, his expression drawn and serious. "Will I die?"

"No," Lumina stated. "Well, Vader doesn't know that. This is a trial run. If it works on you, he'll use it on Luke."

And maybe Leana.

"Great, just great," Han grumbled. "I love being the test subject."

"You should consider yourself lucky," Lumina told him bluntly.

"Yeah, right," Han scoffed, giving her a strange look.

Lumina glared at him. "What happened the last time you didn't listen to me? You should remember this, it wasn't that long ago."

"Don't rub it in," Han muttered. "So, why should I consider myself lucky, Sheldon Cooper?"

"Sheldon Cooper?" Ben echoed, giving Han a skeptical look. "I mean, yeah, the guy's annoyingly knowledgeable, but that's not Lu at all."

"She's been telling me she's right all day!" Han retorted. "Sheldon Cooper!"

"Space sitcom," Lucas muttered, so low only Ben could hear him. "Great. On the other hand, Sheldon would be thrilled to know he was getting referenced by a Star Wars character. But how does Han even know about The Big Bang Theory?"

"Because you won't be delivered to Jabba in chains," Lumina said, assuming the tone of voice she got when she was exceedingly frustrated. "You'll be frozen in carbonite, and so Jabba won't be able to torture or kill you. You'll be used as palace décor, as a trophy, but you'll be uninjured. Otherwise, who knows what would happen to you?"

"According to you, you should know," Han said sarcastically. "Know-it-all." Lumina just rolled her eyes.

Ben shifted his attention back to the cluster of Imperials and the bounty hunter, who had just turned to Vader. "Lord Vader," Boba said.

"Yes, bounty hunter?" Vader said, with just a hint of an exasperated sigh. Ben wondered if the bounty hunter was still listening to Taylor Swift in his helmet.

"What if Solo goes dead?" Boba asked.

"He won't 'go dead,'" Vader said emphatically, using air quotes around the Mandalorian's phrase. "He'd just die."

"Way to make it sound inconsequential," Han muttered, and Leia placed her hand on his arm in empty reassurance.

"Same thing," Boba insisted.

"Grammatically different," Vader sighed. "What does it matter if he dies?"

"Jabba won't pay if he's dead," Boba said, as Vader turned away from him to face the freezing shaft.

"It is of no consequence," Vader said dismissively.

"It is very much of consequence!" Boba protested. "If you ordered a rabbit, and it was delivered to you dead, would you still pay for it? Of course not! You ordered a live rabbit, for crying out loud! What would you do with a dead rabbit?"

"Weekend at Bernie's," Dan replied promptly, keeping a straight face. Ben tried to imagine a rabbit version of the movie, and couldn't help chuckling.

"Eat it," Fred answered. Dan wrinkled his lip in disgust and gave Fred a strange look.

Boba looked from Dan to Fred and shook his head. "My point still stands."

"And so does my order," Vader told him. "Put the Solo in!"

Ben leaned over to Lumina. "You know, I always wondered why Boba Fett didn't talk more in the movies. He mostly just, you know, stood there and looked menacing, maybe waved his blaster around a bit. But now, after listening to this guy, I get why he says very little. He's a moron."

As stormtroopers advanced on Han, Chewbacca roared and lashed out at them, shoving them into the freezing shaft. He accidently struck Lucas and knocked him backward into the shaft. Lucas yelped as Ben and Lumina both jerked forward, grabbing his arms and hurling their weight backward to keep him from following the stormtroopers. They just barely managed to drag him back out of the pit.

"Chewie, Chewie, stop!" Han yelled, holding out his hands to the Wookiee. "Stop now! Whoa!" Chewbacca stopped and looked at Han, growling. "You gotta listen, pal. Take care of Leia and the others, okay?"

Whimpering, Chewbacca nodded as stuncuffs were clamped on his wrists by two of the remaining stormtroopers. Han turned to Leia, his expression solemn. Leaning forward, he kissed her.

"I love you," Leia murmured.

"I know," Han said softly.

"Totally disgusting," Vader muttered.

"Hey," Ben retorted, turning to the Sith. "You were in love once, shut up!"

Vader glared at him. "All right, put him in! Hurry up, now, I ain't got all day."

"Now look who's making grammatical errors," Boba mocked, earning his own glare from Vader.

The stormtroopers muscled Han onto a platform which had risen from the bottom of the freezing shaft, turning him to face the Rebels. Leia took a quick breath, Lumina placing an arm around her shoulders as the platform sunk down the shaft.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Vader declared, pulling the controls and causing a cloud of steam to rush out of the shaft.

Lumina, Ben, and Lucas all gave the Sith strange looks. "Since when did Vader read Harry Potter?" Lumina wondered. "I highly doubted they had a library on Tatooine."

"Maybe Watto was a fan," Lucas suggested wryly, and then they fell silent as a large, rectangular carbonite block was lifted out of the shaft and settled upright on the ground before them. Han was frozen inside it, hands lifted as if in pleading.

Several of the stormtroopers approached the carbonite, walking around behind it as they marveled at it. "Selfie!" one of the stormtroopers crowed, and held up something, a camera, Ben guessed, as the other troopers crowded in for the shot. Ben supposed one of them bumped into the slab as they did so, for it slowly toppled over, squishing the stormtroopers beneath it. "Ow" echoed up from underneath the carbonite slab.

"See if Captain Solo survived," Vader instructed Lando.

"How about seeing if we survived?" a weak stormtrooper voice asked, a white armored hand waving limply from under the slab.

Vader waved a hand dismissively as Lando crouched down beside the slab, hand on the side as he studied the panels implanted in the side. The stormtrooper fingers brushed against his leg and he jumped back as the Sith spoke. "I couldn't care less about you. Well, out with it, Calrissian, did he survive or not?"

"Yes, he survived," Lando said, looking uneasily at the moving hand. "He's in perfect hibernation."

"He's all yours, bounty hunter," Vader told Boba, who gave him two thumbs up. The Sith muttered, "Reminds me of Cody," before raising his voice to boom, "Reset the chamber for Skywalker."

Captain Dan, who had been studying a datapad a little away from the others, now turned to Vader. "Lord Vader, sir, Skywalker and a second X-Wing have both landed."

Ben exchanged grim glances with Lumina and Lucas.

"Good," Vader said, rubbing his hands together like a stereotypical evil villain. "Good. Everything is falling into place." Then Ben could have sworn Vader blinked, due to the way he drew his head back, as if in surprise. "Man, I have been hanging around Palpatine way too much."

"Finally, he admits it," Ben muttered, rolling his eyes at Lumina and Lucas.

"Any other news?" the Sith was now inquiring of Dan.

"Cloud City Weather calls for sunny skies, all day today, and Imperial claims that the rumors spreading about the Emperor's taste in music being deplorable are true only in the songs they refer to, not the quality of the music. Legislature is in the process of being passed mandating that pop, specifically, and I quote, 'the pop songs that lack creativity,' be legally more awesome than anything else."

Vader's mutter of "Remind me not to ask him for the news report again" went unnoticed by the three teenagers.

"What?" Lucas demanded. "That's outrageous!"

"And that statement is now illegal!" Dan snapped back.

"I'm a Rebel," Lucas stated, lifting an eyebrow at Dan. "That's way more illegal, I'd suppose, than insulting soulless music."

"According to new Imperial law, the action of treason against the Empire is treason in the second degree," Dan recited, clasping his hands behind his back like the kid in class who has all the answers. Ben glanced sideways at Lumina – she was usually that kid. "Statements made against protected music is treason in the first degree."

"That is ridiculous," Lucas said, incredulous. "How is committing actual treason considered more tolerable than disliking bad music?"

"Mind control," whispered Fred.

Ben tilted his head. "That would explain why it's always playing on the radio."

"Ensure that neither Skywalker nor his companion are hindered coming into the city in any way," Vader told Dan.

"Yes, Lord Vader," Dan said, snapping to attention. "I follow your commands. Unlike some recently deceased Imperial Admirals. Who left some really great job openings."

Ben felt like if he could see Vader's eyes, the Sith would be rolling them right about now. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You want to get promoted."

Dan straightened, if that was even possible since his back was already ramrod straight. "Lord Vader, sir, I want nothing more than to serve the Empire to my full potential."

"I hate Mondays," Vader muttered, rubbing at the forehead of his helmet with his thumb and forefinger, as if teasing away a headache. "Captain, now is not the time to consider promotions."

"Of course not," Dan said. "Who said anything about a promotion? I was only promising my undying fealty to the Emperor." He turned away, lifting his datapad again.

"Yeah, right," Vader muttered, turning to face Lando. "Calrissian, make sure Princess Leia, the Wookiee, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the other girl get to my ship. Tell Captain Dan to imprison them in the cells."

"I've spent too much time already with Vader," Ben groaned. "I've got to do more time now? Can't you just let me go on parole instead? I promise I'll check in."

Then Ben realized what Vader hadn't said: he hadn't said Lucas would be coming with them. One look at Lucas, and he knew his friend had realized that, too.

"Uh, I hate to ask," Lucas said. "But what about me?"

Vader just looked at him, his hand resting on the hilt of his lightsaber, the red one he had taken back from Lucas after their capture. "What do you think, lightsaber thief?"

Before anyone could react, Vader had moved across the platform, his steps swift and surprisingly silent. Neither Ben nor Lumina had time to move, to shout out a warning or attack the Sith. He was standing in front of Lucas before they could.

And Vader reached out and pushed him into the carbon freezing shaft.

Lucas didn't even scream as he fell backwards; the only sound he made was a gasp of astonishment. Lumina screamed, however, and Ben wanted to scream but it got stuck in his throat and choked him.

Using the Force, Vader nudged the controls for the carbon freezing pit and a blast of steam erupted into the air, the sound of its hissing filling Ben's ears like an explosion. He could hear Lumina sobbing, still screaming, like it was happening from a far distance, a scream heard in a horror movie playing in his brother's room down the hall.

The platform rose, lifting the carbonite slab imprisoning Lucas into sight. Ben didn't even get to look at it before he saw Lumina jerk forward, her screams turning into growls. He lunged after her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pinning her against his chest, her body thrashing in her attempts to get to Lucas.

"Let him go!" she was screaming, tears carving paths in her cheeks, grating in her voice. "Let him go! Let him go!"

"Lu, Lu," Ben murmured, struggling to keep her from attacking Vader. He didn't want to give Vader an excuse to carbon freeze another friend of his. "Lumina, please!"

"Let me go!" Lumina shouted. "Let me go! We have to save Lucas!"

Ben's eyes returned to the inert block, which contained all of Lucas' energy in a solid, drab grey block, like a grey photograph. He was frozen in an upright position, one arm down by his side while the other was up, as if about to shield his face. His feet were braced, in preparation for a fight.

But Lucas wasn't going to get the chance to win that fight.

Ben knew that Lucas had to be alive. Han Solo proved that someone could survive carbon freeze, as it threw them into hibernation. But knowing that changed nothing, took away none of his fear. This wasn't part of the script, and he felt powerless for all of his pretending to be Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan could have done something about this.

"What's your problem?" Lumina was now yelling at Vader. "What's your damn problem?"

"You are my damn problem," Vader said, his words slow and meticulous, like he was doing an Alan Rickman impression but with heavy breathing added in. "Fred the Officer."

The red-faced Imperial snapped to attention, a little clumsily. "Yes, Lord Vader?"

"Take an escort of troopers and bring the thief to my ship," Vader ordered him. "Now."

"Yes, sir," Fred said, and spun around, as if looking for the stormtroopers. It took a couple minutes for him to assemble them together and get Lucas' carbonite slab on a repulsor sled and floated out of the carbon chamber. Ben and Lumina followed it with their eyes the entire way, longing to chase after and free him but unable to.

"You will regret this!" Lumina yelled at Vader. She had quit struggling against Ben's grip and now stood in front of him, her chest heaving with anger. Ben's anger was beginning to surface, too, since his energy was no longer needed to contain Lumina. "You will regret this, Vader."

"I doubt it," Vader said, in a bored tone of voice. "Captain Dan, accompany Calrissian as he brings the other Rebel prisoners to my ship. Make sure they behave."

"Sir, yes, sir," Dan said, turning briskly to Lando. "You heard the Sith. Let's go!"

Ben only had one thought as he was ushered out of the chamber, Lumina's fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist.

They're taking us to the same place as Lucas. We're all supposed to end up back on the Executor.