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| Before Dinner by Queen Karendala |
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Lobot stood motionless and quiet behind his employer. The bounty hunter stood before him. Lando could hold his own, but Lobot was there just in case. He was more than an assistant; he was also a bodyguard. A devoted servant to the cloud city, he was willing to die to save his home. The fact that Boba Fett was here could only mean trouble. As soon as the Slave I requested clearance to land, he felt reluctant about the whole situation. The lights on his headpiece blinked the message "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Lando, we've been here before. But this time, you will help me get Han Solo," Boba Fett snarled confidently.
"If you think I'm going to help you finally capture my friend, you have another thing coming!" Lando retorted. He remembered the last time he stood before the Fett. Both he and Han had prices on their heads. Lando had enough to pay off the bounty hunter, to pretend that he never saw him, but did not have enough to help Han. But through one of their unconventional schemes, Han got away. It involved pulling off a well-timed explosion and putting on a handmaiden suit… Han didn't talk about that story much.
"This time," Boba continued, "there is no way you can outbid the price I will get for Han. And if you don't watch out, I'll find someone out there who wants your hide as well."
"What are you talking about?" Lobot could sense that Lando was getting nervous by the small flutter in his question. The headpiece among other things amplified sound and could detect even the subtlest nuance of the voice. Lobot stood firm, awaiting any action that might be upcoming.
Just then a communication came over Lobot's headpiece. There was a panicked officer in flight control ranting about an Imperial Star Destroyer hailing the city.
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The rhythmic breathing of the feared Darth Vader was actually soothing to Lobot. He could almost understand him, for they both depended on machinery to function. The evil though was foreign to him.
"Where are Captain Solo and the princess?" Vader asked.
"They are approaching now, Lord Vader. We were delaying them until your ship could move out of detection," Lando answered.
"Yes, of course. Now I can sense the princess," Vader said, mostly to himself. A puzzling look swept over Lobot's face briefly. Probably one of those Jedi skills, he told himself. Boba Fett stood motionless and quiet behind his employer just as Lobot stood behind his. However, he was quite sure that if the price was high enough and he thought he could get away with it, the Fett would turn on his boss. There was nothing that could make Lobot turn on his. Vader continued with his plan of capturing the rebels, including mentioning someone named "Skywalker". Lando's friend and the princess were not who Vader wanted, but they were going to be used as bait. Again, Lobot was puzzled. How would this Skywalker know where to look for his friends? Perhaps another Jedi thing.
"No, go and greet your friend. Let them rest and then bring them to me," Vader commanded before turning on his heals to tromp out of the room, his dark cape skimming the floor. The Fett followed silently, his own cape waving in the wake of a dramatic exit.
Once gone, Lando let down his guard, and his charade of confidence. "What am I going to do? I can't let them take this station, it's the first 'decent' thing I've been involved with. At least the princess and Chewie will get to stay here. Maybe we can try to rescue Han before that bounty hunter makes it back to Jabba… yea! That's it! Once Vader leaves with Starkiller… or whatever his name is… we'll go save Han!" He started out of the room, cape waving, followed silently by Lobot.
"Maybe I need a cape," Lobot thought to himself on their way to the landing platform.
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