As Luke, weapon in hand, dropped to the floor, the monstrous figure towering

over him took a cautious step backward. The beast's sulfurous eyes blinked

incredulously at the humming lightshaft, a sight baffling to its primitive brain.

Though it was difficult to move, Luke jumped to his feet and waved his

lightsaber at the snow-white mass of muscle and hair, forcing it back a step, another

step. Brining the weapon down, Luke cut through the monster's hide with the blade

of light. The Wampa Ice Creature shrieked, its hideous roar of agony shaking the

gorge walls. It turned and hastily lumbered out of the gorge, its white bulk blending

with the distant terrain.

The sky was already noticeably darker, and with the encroaching darkness came

the colder winds. The Force was with Luke, but even that mysterious power could

not warm him now. Every step he took as he stumbled out of the gorge was more

difficult than the last. Finally, his vision dimming as rapidly as the daylight, Luke

stumbled down an embankment of snow and was unconscious before he even reached

the bottom.

In the subsurface main hangar dock, Chewie was getting the Millennium Falcon

ready for takeoff. He looked up from his work to see a rather curious pair of figures

that had just appeared from around a nearby corner to mingle with the usual Rebel

activity in the hangar.

Neither of these figures was human, although one of them had a humanoid shape

and gave the impression of a man in knightly golden armor. His movement were

precise, almost too precise to be human, as he clanked stiffly through the corridor.

His companion required no manlike legs for locomotion, for he was doing quite well

rolling his shorter, barrellike body along on miniature wheels.

The shorter of the two droids was beeping and whistling excitedly.

"It's not my fault, you malfunctioning tin can," the tall, anthropomorphic droid

stated, gesturing with a metallic hand. "I did not ask you to turn on the thermal

heater. I merely commented that it was freezing in her chamber. But it's supposed

to be freezing. How are we going to get all her things dried out? …Ah! Here we

are."

See-Threepio, the golden droid in human shape, paused to focus his optical

sensors on the docked Millennium Falcon.

The other robot, Artoo-Detoo, retracted his wheels and frontal leg, and rested his

stout metal body on the ground. The smaller droid's sensors were reading the

familiar figures of Han Solo and his Wookiee companion as those two continued the

work of replacing the freighter's central lifters.

"Master Solo, sir," Threepio called, the only one of the robotic twosome

equipped with an imitation human voice. "Might I have a word with you?"

Han was not particularly in a mood to be disturbed, especially by this fastidious

droid. "What is it?"

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