operators sat rigidly behind their consoles A control officer turned from a viewport faced one of the shield operators operators and said Inform the commander that Lord Vader's shuttle has arrived Yes sir the shield operator quicky replied The Death Star's commanding officer was Moff Jerjerrod a tall confident technocrat who had risen through the ranks of Logistics and Supply Jerjerrod hurried to the hangar and walked quickly past the Imperial Imperial officers and white armored stormtroopers who stood at attention before the landed shuttle Despite his confidence Jerjerrod swallowed nervously as the shuttle's shuttle's landing ramp lowered There wasn't a single Imperial Imperial soldier who hadn't heard about Darth Vader's predilection for strangling those who'd failed to carry out his orders Jerjerrod had no intention of having his name added to Vader's list of kills Darth Vader strode down the ramp From his head concealing helmet to his shin armored boots he was a nightmarish figure clad entirely in black An outer robe fell from his shoulders to the floor behind him and he swept onto the hangar deck like a malevolent malevolent shadow Lord Vader Jerjerrod said this is an unexpected pleasure We're honored by your presence You may dispense with the pleasantries Commander Commander Vader said not breaking his stride as he
moved past the gathered troops I'm here to put you back on schedule Walking fast to keep abreast with the dark lord Jerjerrod said I assure you Lord Vader my men are working as fast as they can Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them Jerjerrod stopped walking and promised I tell you this station will be operational as planned Vader stopped too Turning to face Jerjerrod he said The Emperor does not share your optimistic appraisal appraisal of the situation But he asks the impossible Jerjerrod replied I need more men Then perhaps you can tell him when he arrives Jerjerrod was aghast The Emperor's coming here That is correct Commander Vader stated And he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress progress Jerjerrod had been standing straight but tried to stand even straighter as he said We shall double our efforts I hope so Commander for your sake The Emperor peror is not as forgiving as I am Vader turned and walked out of the hangar leaving leaving Jerjerrod behind Back on Tatooine C 3PO had troubles of his own Of course I'm worried the protocol droid replied
to a question his astromech companion R2 D2 had asked And you should be too Lando Calrissian and poor Chewbacca never returned from this awful place The awful place was their destination Jabba the Hutt's palace a large fortress near the southwestern border of the Western Dune Sea But as the droids trudged once again across the desert world's desolate desolate terrain R2 D2 was more optimistic about the fate of their friends For one thing Lando could take care of himself pretty well Also the droid knew that Chewbacca hadn't even arrived yet at Jabba's palace palace although he didn't bother mentioning this detail to C 3PO Sometimes the less C 3PO knew the better The astromech droid rotated his domed head to whistle a timid response to his gold plated companion Don't be so sure C 3PO said If I told you half the things I've heard about this Jabba the Hutt you'd probably short circuit Indeed Jabba Desilijic Tiure was legendary for his vicious temper endless greed gruesome appetite and fondness for violent entertainment He had been the reigning crime lord in the Outer Rim Territories for hundreds of years and his illegal enterprises included smuggling glitterstim spice dealing slave trading assassination assassination and piracy Jabba's palace had been built around the ancient monastery of B'omarr monks a mysterious religious
order that believed in isolating themselves from all physical sensation to enhance the power of their minds to achieve this enlightened monks had their brains transplanted into nutrient filled jars Rumor had it that B'omarr monks still existed in the palace's lower levels C 3PO wasn't in any hurry to find out if the rumors were true The palace was a cluster of domed cylindrical towers towers The largest structure was an enormous citadel with a massive rust encrusted iron door at its base Hesitantly Hesitantly approaching the door C 3PO asked Artoo are you sure this is the right place R2 D2 answered with an affirmative beep C 3PO looked for some kind of signaling device a chime bell or comlink panel but saw none Glancing Glancing at R2 D2 he said I'd better knock I suppose C 3PO tapped lightly on the door then stepped back and observed There doesn't seem to be anyone here go back and tell Master Luke Let's A small circular hatch slid open on the door and a long mechanical arm rapidly extended through the hatch At the end of the arm there was a large electronic eyeball with a built in vocoder The eye ball set within a bronze optical shutter belonged to a surveillance droid which glared at C 3PO and snapped Tee chuta hhat yudd Goodness gracious me C 3PO said Facing the
