The structure was not much taller than the astromech himself. As the rain pelted off his domed head, R2-D2 rose up on the tips of his treads, peeked into a window, and listened. Inside, the small green-skinned creature was cooking something in a pot on a stove while Luke squatted under the low mud-packed ceiling.
“Look, I’m sure it’s delicious,” Luke said, eyeing the food in the pot. “I just don’t understand why we can’t see Yoda now.”
“Patience!” the creature exclaimed. “For the Jedi it is time to eat as well. Eat, eat. Hot.”
Luke moved with difficulty in the cramped quarters, but managed to sit down near the fire and serve himself from the steaming pot. He tasted the strange food and wished he hadn’t.
“Good food, hm?” asked the creature. “Good, hmmm?”
But Luke wasn’t interested in the food. “How far away is Yoda? Will it take us long to get there?”
“Not far,” said the creature. “Yoda not far. Patience. Soon you will be with him.” He tasted the food directly from the pot. “Rootleaf, I cook. Why wish you become Jedi? Hm?”
“Mostly because of my father, I guess,” Luke admitted.
“Ah, father,” the creature said. “Powerful Jedi was he, mmm, powerful Jedi, mmm.”
“Oh, come on,” Luke said, angry with the creature. “How could you know my father? You don’t even know who I am. Oh, I don’t know what I’m doing here. We’re wasting our time.”
The creature looked away from Luke and sounded disappointed as he said, “I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.”
From out of nowhere, Ben’s voice answered, “He will learn patience.”
Startled, Luke looked around, searching for Ben as if he might appear within the mud house.
“Hmmm,” mumbled the creature. He turned slowly, studied Luke, and said, “Much anger in him, like his father.”
Ben’s voice replied, “Was I any different when you taught me?”
“Hah,” the creature said. “He is not ready.”
Luke looked at the creature, who returned his gaze with wise old eyes. Then Luke suddenly realized the truth, and gasped, “Yoda!”
Yoda nodded.
“I am ready,” Luke said. “I…Ben! I…I can be a Jedi. Ben, tell him I’m ready.” Trying to see Ben, Luke started to get up—only to smack his head against the hut’s ceiling.
“Ready, are you?” Yoda said, fixing Luke with a severe glare. “What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained! A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.” Yoda tilted his head slightly to address Ben, who remained invisible, as he gestured to indicate Luke. “This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away…to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph.” Yoda raised his gimer stick and jabbed Luke. “Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things.” Lowering his gimer stick, he stared at Luke. “You are reckless!”
Ben’s disembodied voice said, “So was I, if you remember.”
“He is too old,” Yoda replied. Before the fall of the Old Republic, Jedi began their training as infants— before they could know about fear and anger— and were raised at the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant. One rare exception had been Luke’s father, who’d been nine years of age when he’d arrived at the Jedi Temple. Yoda had been extremely reluctant to allow Luke’s father to become a Jedi, and given everything that had transpired, he was even more hesitant to teach Luke. Yoda added, “Yes, too old to begin the training.”
Desperate for Yoda to reconsider, Luke said, “But I’ve learned so much.”
Yoda sighed. Addressing the invisible Ben, he asked, “Will he finish what he begins?”
Instead of allowing Ben to answer, Luke said, “I won’t fail you.” As Yoda’s gaze returned to him, Luke felt compelled to add, “I’m not afraid.”
Yoda said, “Oh,” his eyes widening, and his voice dropping to a low, threatening tone, “you will be. You will be.”
Under the command of Captain Needa, the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger cruised along the edge of the asteroid field, firing at every piece of drifting matter that strayed too close to the immense ship. Because there had been no sign that the Millennium Falcon had been destroyed or had left the asteroid field, Darth Vader maintained the Rebels had to be hiding on one of the larger asteroids. If they were, the Avenger would flush them out.
Captain Needa had dispatched Imperial TIE bombers with TIE fighter escorts, and the pilots soon arrived upon a moon-sized asteroid. There, the double-podded bombers dropped free-falling thermal detonators that exploded and left new craters on the asteroid’s ravaged terrain.
Tucked away in the depths of the asteroid cave, the crew of the Falcon heard the distant explosions on the surface of their hiding place. While Han, Chewbacca, and C-3PO made repairs in the main hold, Leia sat alone in the cockpit, thinking.
She wasn’t thinking about how they’d get out of the cave or asteroid field, or even if they’d escape the Imperial ships. She was thinking about Han. And Luke. And how she felt about them, which was complicated. Luke was sweet and shy. He’d never told her in so many words that he was fond of her, but even before their kiss on Hoth, she knew he cared for her deeply. They had an indescribable bond.
And Han was…well, for all of his occasionally good qualities, he was arrogant and incredibly self-centered. Leia resented Han’s behavior, the way he seemed bent on having her choose between him or Luke. As if I don’t have any more pressing concerns than Han’s ego. And Han knew Luke was fond of her, which only put more of a strain on their friendship. Honestly, what kind of a friend is Han? I just don’t know.…
But he is a good kisser.
She looked at her hands. She couldn’t remember when she’d put her white gloves back on, but she was wearing them now. It wasn’t that cold in the Falcon, but gloves were good for other things, like discouraging bare-handed massages. Why invite trouble? Still, she’d been surprised by the warmth and gentleness of Han’s touch.…
This is madness! What am I, a schoolgirl? There’s a war on and I have a job to do. I don’t have the time or energy for this! I should just tell Han to—
She saw something move outside the cockpit window. She thought, Maybe my eyes are getting tired? Leaning forward in her seat, she peered into the darkness.
Suddenly, a leathery, flying creature appeared and suctioned its face against the window with a loud slap. Startled, Leia screamed and fell back against her seat, then turned and hurried out of the cockpit.
In the main hold, C-3PO was trying yet again to engage Han’s attention. “Sir, if I may venture an opinion—”
“I’m not really interested in your opinion, Threepio,” Han interrupted.
Leia ran into the hold, past the droid, and found Han and Chewbacca facing a wall, making repairs to exposed cables. She said, “There’s something out there.”
Chewbacca and Han, both wearing welding goggles, looked almost comical as they turned to face Leia. Han raised his goggles and asked, “Where?”
“Outside, in the cave.”
As if in response, there came a sharp banging on the hull.
C-3PO cried, “There it is! Listen! Listen!”
The noise came again. Chewbacca barked anxiously.
“I’m going out there,” Han said. He stepped over to a wall-mounted rack of supplies.
Leia said, “Are you crazy?”
“I just got this bucket back together,” Han said. “I’m not going to let something tear it apart.” He reached to a nearby supply rack and grabbed a breath mask, a portable life-support unit that would allow him to breathe in the cave.
Leia said, “Oh, then I’m going with you.” She took a breath mask and hurried after Han, then Chewbacca did the same.
C-3PO stood nervously in the hold. To the departing figures, he said, “I think it migh
t be better if I stay behind and guard the ship.” Another mysterious noise echoed off the hull, causing the droid to tremble and mutter, “Oh, no.”
At the top of the ship’s landing ramp, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca placed their breath masks over their noses and mouths. The landing ramp extended to the cave floor, and Han walked down it, followed by Leia and Chewbacca. Han had his blaster pistol out and Chewbacca carried his Wookiee bowcaster. Leia held her empty hands out at her sides and thought, Shouldn’t I be carrying a glow rod or something?
There was a heavy mist in the cave, which was illuminated only by the Falcon’s landing lights. Han stepped cautiously onto the cave floor. While his eyes searched for anything unusual on his ship’s shadowy exterior, Leia followed. Testing her footing, she said, “This ground sure feels strange. It doesn’t feel like rock.”
Han looked at the swirling mist and said, “There’s an awful lot of moisture in here.”
“I don’t know,” Leia remarked vaguely, then added, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Yeah,” Han agreed.
Suddenly, Chewbacca barked through his face mask and pointed toward the Falcon’s cockpit. Han moved fast, firing his blaster at the indicated spot. There was a loud screech, then Han yelled to Leia, “Watch out!”
A leathery creature tumbled from the cockpit to the ground. Han stepped over and bent down to examine the dead beast, saying, “It’s all right. It’s all right.”
Chewbacca walked over to Han and whimpered.
Han said, “Yeah, what I thought. Mynock.” Han and Chewbacca had encountered mynocks before: silicon-based parasites that feed on energy from starships. Han said, “Chewie, check the rest of the ship, make sure there are no more attached. They’re chewing on the power cables.”
“Mynocks?” Leia asked. I’ve never heard of them.
“Go on inside,” Han said. “We’ll clean them off if there are any more.”
But before Leia could return to the landing ramp, a swarm of mynocks swooped past her. She raised her arms in front of her head to protect herself, then more mynocks flew at Chewbacca, who swung his bowcaster at them.
Inside the Falcon, C-3PO entered the cockpit to see what was going on outside. The droid nearly jumped out of his metal plating when several mynocks flapped their wings against the cockpit window. “Ohhh!” C-3PO shouted. “Go away! Go away!” He waved his arms at them. “Beastly thing. Shoo! Shoo!”
Chewbacca fired at one, and the fired bolt of energy slammed into the cave wall—causing the entire cave to rumble.
Han stood still, listening to the sounds in the cave. The mynocks had suddenly flown away, but why? Han thought about it, then said, “Wait a minute…” He aimed his blaster at the cave floor and fired.
More rumbling, only worse. The entire cave suddenly tilted hard to the side, nearly launching Han, Leia, and Chewbacca off their feet. As the cave rocked around them, they rushed across the misty floor and up the landing ramp.
Running for the main hold, Han tore off his breath mask and shouted, “Pull her up, Chewie. Let’s get out of here!”
Chewbacca ran to the cockpit. Leia followed Han into the hold, where they nearly fell into C-3PO. As Han checked the scopes on a control panel, Leia said, “The Empire is still out there. I don’t think it’s wise to—”
“No time to discuss this in committee,” Han interrupted.
“I am not a committee!” Leia protested as Han bolted for the cockpit. The Millennium Falcon’s main engines began to whine. Leia went after Han, stumbling into the corridor walls as another quake rocked the ship.
When Leia and Han entered the cockpit, Chewbacca was already hanging on to his seat. As Han jumped behind his controls and pulled back on the throttle, Leia insisted, “You can’t make the jump to lightspeed in this asteroid field!”
“Sit down, sweetheart,” Han replied. “We’re taking off!”
The cave quake diminished as the ship moved forward. C-3PO stepped into the cockpit just as Chewbacca noticed something ahead. The Wookiee barked.
C-3PO pointed to the cockpit window and exclaimed, “Look!”
Han said, “I see it, I see it.”
They were fast approaching a row of jagged white stalagmites and stalactites that surrounded the cave’s entrance. But as the ship hurtled forward, the jagged formations appeared to be closing in on each other, and the entrance grew smaller.
Han pulled hard on the throttle to increase speed.
“We’re doomed!” the droid cried.
“The cave is collapsing!” Leia shouted.
“This is no cave,” Han said.
Leia gasped, “What?” Then she realized Han was right. They weren’t looking at the mouth of the cave, but the mouth of an enormous monster. The jagged rock formations were really teeth.
Chewbacca howled as the Millennium Falcon zoomed forward and rolled on its side to pass—just barely—between two of the gigantic white teeth. The jaws quickly slammed closed behind them. The ship ascended, and the monster—a space slug—raised its head after them and tried for another bite but missed. The Falcon was too fast. As the ship sped away from the asteroid, the space slug tilted its massive head, then withdrew and slid back into its cave.
The Falcon headed once more into the asteroid belt.
Yoda was riding in a pack strapped to Luke’s back. Already sweating in his sleeveless tunic, Luke grabbed hold of a thick vine that stretched down from a high tree to the Dagobah swamp. He pulled himself up, hand over hand, carrying Yoda with him. Winged creatures flew through the humid air, but Luke ignored them.
At a designated branch, Luke turned, grabbed another vine, and swung away from the tree, down to the ground. He landed on solid soil, flipped his body forward over a broad root, and began to run through the swamp. As Luke raced in and out of the heavy ground fog, Yoda spoke to the back of Luke’s head, urging him on.
“Run!” Yoda said as he clung to Luke’s shoulders. “Yes. A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger…fear…aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”
Luke came to an abrupt stop and said, “Vader.” Breathing hard, he turned his head slightly to address Yoda and asked, “Is the dark side stronger?”
Yoda answered, “No…no…no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”
“But how am I to know the good side from the bad?”
“You will know,” Yoda assured his new pupil, his voice a soothing rasp in Luke’s ear. “When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”
“But tell me why I can’t—”
“No, no, there is no why,” Yoda interrupted. “Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind of questions. Mmm. Mmmmmmm.”
Luke closed his eyes to meditate.
R2-D2 beeped in the distance as Luke lowered Yoda to the ground. While the aged Jedi settled himself on a wide root, Luke stepped over to a tree branch, where he’d placed his shirt and weapon belt.
As Luke pulled on his shirt, he sensed something strange and deadly in the air. He turned to see a huge, dead, black tree, its trunk surrounded by a few feet of water. Giant, twisted roots formed a dark and sinister-looking cave on one side. Luke stared at the tree and a chill ran down his spine.
“There’s something not right here,” he said. “I feel cold, death.”
“That place…” Yoda said from his seat, “is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go.”
Luke thought, He actually wants me to go in? But he also somehow knew the journey was necessary. It seemed the place was silently calling to him, beckoning. Hesitant, Luke asked, “What’s in there?”
Yoda said, “Only what you take with you.”
Luke looked warily
between the tree and Yoda, then started to strap on his weapon belt.
Seeing this, Yoda said, “Your weapons…you will not need them.”
Luke gave the tree a long look, then shook his head and strapped on his belt. Yoda shrugged. As Luke walked away, the little droid trembled.
Luke brushed aside some hanging vines, then lowered himself into a hole. In the darkness, he could barely make out the passage that lay before him, but he proceeded deeper into it. There were roots, tangled and twisting up the walls, and the smell of rot and decay was everywhere. Could these roots bring life to the tree above? Somehow it seemed doubtful.
The space widened around him, and then he saw something move in front of him. There was a shadowy form, then mechanical breathing sounds, and a sense of dread.
Darth Vader.
The dark lord appeared from the blackness, and Luke took a few steps back. Time seemed to slow down, but Luke’s mind raced: How did Vader get to Dagobah? Is he looking for Master Yoda? Or is he here for…me? Then he remembered his lightsaber, and in an instant, the cave was illuminated by its blue blade.
Vader drew and activated his own red lightsaber, crossing his blade with Luke’s. Luke tried to concentrate but felt himself being distracted, drawn into the sound of labored breathing that came from Vader’s helmet. Then Vader attacked.
But Luke was ready. He angled his blade defensively to block Vader’s blade, and there was a loud, electric clash between the two lightsabers. The dark lord pulled back and swung again; Luke parried and prepared for Vader’s next assault. Their lightsabers again connected with a loud crackle of energy, until Luke broke free, swung hard—
—and cut off Vader’s head.
Sparks showered up from the neck of Vader’s decapitated form, his body toppled, and his helmet rolled across the cave floor.
Luke stared at the helmet, and its black oval lenses seemed to stare back. Then there was another shower of sparks, and the helmet’s faceplate burned away. The smoke cleared to reveal a face, cradled in the smoldering, broken shell of Vader’s helmet.
The face was Luke’s own.
The Empire Strikes Back (Junior Novelization) Page 8