Carbonite melted, and Han Solo fell stumbling into the masked figure’s arms. Blinking, blinded, he found that he hadn’t the strength to even sit up all the way. All he remembered was being lowered into the carbonite, the bitter cold, and then nothing. Where was he?

Jabba, the bounty hunter was taking him to Jabba. His hands reached, but found only impenetrable armor and a harsh, grating voice.

“Who are you,” he asked, dreading the answer, confidence burned away by the searing cold.

There was a pause.

“Someone who loves you,” came an entirely different voice. High and clear, sometimes sharp, but capable of such gentleness and depths that he could sometimes scarcely believe it.

Someone he loved.

“Leia,” he said, his words still weak.

She did not answer with that voice, but with a passionate kiss that for a moment drove back all the horror and pain of his capture. He reached for her, inwardly cursing the weakness that kept him from pulling her close into his arms. Tried to savor the touch while it lasted, though his exhaustion made it an exercise of will to do even that much.

“Come on,” she said, helping him to his unsteady feet. “I’ve got to get you out of here.”

Leaning against his love, he took a step. It was weak, almost more of a stumble, but it was a start. The weakness was passing. Just being near her gave him strength he’d never expected. Then he heard the laugh.

Deep, booming. It filled the room even as it mocked him. Han knew that laugh.

He heard a curtain clink back, turned to face the supine figure he could no longer see, but knew so well. Jabba the Hutt. Gangster, drug lord, and his one time employer. The being whose bounty had chased him halfway across the galaxy, and had in the end led him here. There had to be a way out. He’d talked himself out of worse situations then this, all he needed was the proper angle.

Not mercy, that was certain, for the Hutt had none. Not that Han had any intent to beg regardless, but he knew that it would have been useless just the same. Money, that might work. The greedy slug was always tight fisted. They were only in this mess because Han had been forced to dump one of Jabba’s shipments and never quite had enough to pay him back. It would be expensive, but he had access to money now. The rebellion wasn’t exactly rich, but there were a lot of deep pockets that opposed the Empire’s tightening fist. Surely Jabba could look the other way, if the price was right.

It was no use. The greedy Hutt just scoffed at his claims. Did he not believe Han when he said they could pay? Did he not care? In the end, it was much the same either way.

As the guards roughly hauled Han from the throne room, he found his resurgent strength failing once again. It was over, done, there was nothing he could do. His silver tongue wasn’t going to talk him out of this one, and even if he had eyes to aim with, his ready blaster was no longer at his side.

His legs scraped against the rough stairs as they dragged him down, his nose assaulted with new and unwelcome stenches the lower they got. Yet through it all, there was one deep, abiding regret that consumed him. A regret he was powerless to solve.

Leia.

Han knew the Hutt, knew his tastes. He’d think twice about leaving even a hated enemy in the slug’s clutches. Doubly so if that enemy was an attractive woman. He could only guess what fate awaited Leia, but he knew enough, and what he did know made his blood boil.

Whatever it might have cost him in the long run, he wished to blazes that she had never come.

Leia watched them drag Han away, held helplessly in the guards’ iron grip as they dragged away the man she loved. Just like that, all her dreams came crashing around her. They had been so close. Just a few more minutes and they could have been out the door and away from this vile place. It had been a foolish gamble in the first place, a distraction at a critical time when she was most needed in the battle against The Empire, but what could she do?

It wasn’t like she could just leave Han, not like that. She’d rather die.

Unfortunately, it seemed like that was the fate in store for her, though Leia doubled it would be quick or clean. She steeled herself as they brought her to the vile gangster. Up close, without the benefit of her mask, he smelled even worse than she’d expected.

“We have powerful friends,” she threatened, “You’re going to regret this.”

It was true. The rebellion had an army, a fleet. To say nothing of a Jedi like Luke. Jabba may have had his run of the underworld, but he was nothing next to them. The rebels could ill afford such a distraction, but in the end Jabba was doomed. That was little good now, unfortunately. The army, the fleet, those were both very far from here, and Leia was all alone.

The slug spoke, and though she could not understand his words, she knew enough to tell he was mocking her. He leered at her, licking his slimy lips, and she turned away in revulsion.

The tiny thing at his side cackled, and the gangster spoke again. His words were unknown, but the effects were obvious. The guards converged on her, ripping away first her armor, then her jumpsuit. Leia protested ineffectually, but promised that she would not beg or cry.

No matter what happened.

They stripped her naked, baring her body before all the lowlife scum of Jabba’s criminal court. It hurt, though she refused to show it. Not just being exposed like this, but being exposed to them, to these wretched criminals. All the while, that obnoxious little imp on the podium laughed away.

With a shove, Leia was pressed up to the disgusting crime boss, who ogled her openly before expressing his unwanted approval. Then, in a moment that would turn Leia’s stomach for days, his drooling tongue reached out and licked all the way up her side. Again she shuddered, but they held her arms too tight for her to get free.

It was then that she resolved to kill him one day. With her bare hands, if she could, but one way or another she was going to kill Jabba the Hutt.

Her time at the center was mercifully short. Another command from Jabba - she wished now that she’d learned the language, but Huttese hadn’t been on the Alderan Royal Academy’s curriculum - and she was whisked down into the belly of the labyrinthine palace. Still naked, of course, with not a shred of attention paid to her feelings or comfort.

Again Leia vowed not to be broken, whatever was in store for her, and again swore bloody vengeance against everyone involved.

She was thrust into a dark room, lit only by harsh, flickering glowpanels somewhere deep underground. The room was dusty and cluttered, with boxes and bins scattered throughout the room. Most of the bins looked to Leia like scrapmetal, though there were also heaps of rolled fabric and all manner of tools throughout. A trio of droids toiled over a workbench in the far corner, assisted by a pair of browbeaten drudges. A dark haired woman looked over as Leia entered the room. She smiled at Leia, but there wasn’t a shred of warmth to it. It had the same feral gleam a hawkbat must have when first spotting its prey.

“So,” she said, “Jabba’s new girl, huh?”

“I’m no one’s girl,” Leia spat, only to catch a ringing slap across the face. Leia started for the other woman, but a hand at her shoulder was enough to end that. The thick green fingers squeezed until her bones felt like they were grinding together, and Leia gasped in pain. It was only when they had reminded her just how thoroughly she was outmuscled that they released her once again.

“Let’s try that again. My name is Melina Carniss. I run things down her, but if you know what’s good for you you’ll be calling me ma’am or miss, got that?”

Leia stood like a stone, refusing to dignify that with a response. The woman stepped closer, speaking lower this time. More dangerously.

“I said, got that?”

Still Leia refused to answer, but it was only when she smiled that Leia realized that she had been hoping for defiance. Her hands reached out, grabbing at Leia’s breast and pinching her nipple sharply. She twisted, and Leia cried out helplessly. The guards held Leia tight, refusing to let her squirm away out of the woman’s grip.

“Listen, slut. It’s time for you to learn something. You belong to Jabba now. You’re property. The only question is, are you going to be valuable property that gets taken care of, or are you going to be the worthless, disposable sort. I don’t care who or what you were before this, that’s over now. However bad you think this is, it can get a whole lot worse. Now are you going to be good, or not?”

Slowly, reluctantly, almost against her will, Leia nodded. The pressure let up, but the grip didn’t release.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Leia said between gritted teeth.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, I’ll be good,” Leia told her, ashamed at herself, even though she knew that it was both silly and useless to fight here. Her battles were elsewhere.

“Much better,” Melina said, “Though perhaps a bit more enthusiasm was in order.”

The smug contempt in that voice renewed Leia’s disgust. She told the other woman what she could do with her enthusiasm, and received another slap for her troubles. Leia considered it a fair trade.

“Now for some good news. The Mighty Jabba has decided that he is going to keep you.”

“You don’t say,” Leia mocked, “I think I figured that one out already.”

“Oh, I don’t think you have,” Melina said with a wicked smile. “See, plenty of girls go through Jabba’s palace, and most of them don’t stick around long. Some of them, Jabba gives away when he’s in the mood to reward a favored underling. Some of us go on to bigger and better things, such as breaking in disobedient sluts like you. A few - a rare few - even manage to earn their freedom. Most of the time, though? Jabba just gets bored. Girls don’t last very long once the boss loses interest.”

“He’s a monster.”

“A monster who owns you, sweet cheeks, so you’d better learn some respect.”

“He can’t possibly think he’ll get away with this. When the rebellion hears about this-”

“Rebellions come and go, princess. Jabba has ruled these sands longer than your little movement has existed, longer than the Empire. He’s dug in deep, and there isn’t a force in the galaxy that is going to move him. Let the outside galaxy burn, for all he cares. Jabba will remain. Down here, his word is the law, his whim your only concern. Please him, and you’ll be rewarded. Displease him? Well, I don’t think that is going to be a concern for you. Now lie back.”

Leia would do no such thing, but the green skinned guards had a grip like durasteel, and easily forced her back onto the table. Metal restraints snapped into place around her wrists and ankles. Leia tried to remain implacible, but could not resist a shudder as she was spread naked across the cold bench. One of the gamoreans took the opportunity to squeeze an exposed breast, snorting to itself at her futile disgust.

She had been tortured before, Leia reminded herself. Had come face to face with the Empire’s best interrogators and come out triumphant. But even in the deepest imperial holding cell she had not felt so exposed, so vulnerable. Even at their most evil, the empire was not so purile as these criminals. Cold and cruel, yes, but nowhere near so slimy and degrading.

“You’ll never break me,” Leia said, hoping the words held more confidence than she felt.

“Better women than you have said so. Unfortunately for me, we don’t get to do this the long way. Jabba has other plans for you.”

“What are you talking about.”

“You’ll see,” she said, and motioned to the guards. At her signal, the fat one palmed open the door, and ushered in a clanking medical droid.

At least, it had begun life as one. This unit had so many aftermarket modifications and jury rigged alterations that it was only barely distinguishable. Ill fitting motors creaked and shuddered with every step it took, and Leia watched with horror as it extended a number of sharp instruments from its body.

“What is that thing,” she asked, all pretense of bravado forgotten.

“A fun little toy fresh off the black market. Don’t worry, I’m told there’s only a twenty percent chance of permanent brain damage.”

“Permanent what!”

Leia tried to shy away as it moved behind her, but a set of clamps came down and forced her head into place so tightly that only her eyes could move.

“Try to hold still, dear, you’ll barely even feel this.”

It was a bald faced lie. She felt every second of it as the microprobe burrowed through her skull. Leia fought and screamed, but was able to do nothing to ease the pressure she felt inside her skull as it operated within. For the briefest instant Leia felt her muscles convulse, cramping painfully all at once, and when it was over she found herself unable to move at all.

Inwardly she panicked, fearing that the dreadful machine had damaged her after all, but she could still feel it pushing and pulling inside her head. Leia giggled, and not because the situation was in any way funny. A completely involuntary response, one she had been neither expecting, nor was able to resist. A flurry of sensations swept by one after the other. She laughed, she cried, yelped in pain as her entire body lit on fire all at once. Moaned lewdly as she climaxed right there in front of everyone.

The pig men chuckled amongst themselves at this, and Melina treated her with a haughty sneer, asking if she was enjoying herself. Leia tried to answer, but her movements were still thick and garbled, though they improved by the minute.

Soon the droid was finished, its invasive probe replaced by a cool spray of sealant to close up the tiny incision. There was hardly any pain, just a dull ache where the machine had done its work.

The restraints withdrew in a whirring rush, leaving Leia free once more. She tested her limbs and found that motion and feeling had returned, though her movements felt more sluggish than she would prefer.

“All done,” Melina said, with a look that suggested they were far from finished. “How do you feel?”

Leia sat up slowly, refusing to dignify her with an answer.

“Defiant, is it? That’s fine. Defiance is good. It means we can cut straight to the fun part.”

The woman pulled out some sort of remote and fiddled with one of the controls.

“There. I think that should do it,” she said “Stand up.”

Although Leia had been about to do exactly that, stubborn pride led her to resist. At least, that was the intention. No sooner had the command been given than Leia felt a sudden pressure inside her skull, soon blossoming into outright pain. With each microsecond she resisted the punishment grew, until she could take no more and leapt to her feet.

Immediately the pain vanished, leaving behind only a warm, giddy sense of relief. Experimentally, she tried to sit back down, only to receive a sharp searing jolt that stood her back on her tip-toes. It was not mere pain. She called it that, but only for lack of a better word. This was something deeper, more primal. The sort of pain that made her body instinctively recoil from the source. Only in this case that source was disobedience.

“What did you do to me?” she asked in indignant horror.

“Something to make you more compliant. Don’t worry, darling, I’m sure you’ll hardly need it.”

The condescending pat on her cheek was enough to make Leia snap, but when she tried to strike the cruel woman her body refused to act. All she gained for her efforts amounted to little more than a short spasm of her right arm. Even the fist she made was growing more painful by the moment, until at last Leia was forced to relax her hand.

Melina notice the struggle, and favored her with a knowing smirk.

“You’ll never get away with this,” Leia blustered, “I’ll fight it, I will never-”

“Silence,” the other woman commanded, and Leia’s mouth shut. She tried to speak, but her jaw ached and her lungs burned, and in the end she wasn’t quite able to force out more than an indignant squawk.

“Much better, I’m beginning to like you already.”

If only eyes were blasters, Leia’s glare would have left that woman a smoking crater on the ground.

“Now, we know that your mouth has made it through the operation. Let’s make sure your motor reflexes have done the same. Hop up and down for me. Ten times.”

Leia started her first jump almost as soon as she heard the words. There was time for only the briefest moment of discomfort before she was already in motion. She hadn’t meant to comply. If anything, it had simply been a reflex, an instinctive jump no different than if she had sat down on a burr. And when she was already in motion, already doing what she was told, Leia made another, far more troubling discovery.

She felt happy.

That relief she had felt upon standing had not been from the sudden absence of pain, but a reward for doing what she was told. This time, having not resisted the initial command, the effects were stronger still. Despite herself, Leia could not help but feel glad at following orders.

From almost the start, the gamorean guardsmen had started chuffing and snorting, but it was only around the third hop that Leia realized the source of their mirth. Her bare breasts, unsupported and unconstrained, were bouncing about wildly with each jump. Leia thought about stopping, but could not quite bring herself to do it. Even that one brief pause between jumps was agony enough to set her moving again. Instead, she hugged her chest tight, hoping to hide and support what she could not prevent.

Her tormentor was having none of that.

“None of that! Arms at your sides, slut. Your body doesn’t belong to you anymore, so you don’t get to choose when to hide it.”

Hating that woman as she’d never despised anyone save the butcher Tarkin himself, Leia reluctantly complied. Their show now unimpeded, the pig-men laughed and mocked her in their unintelligible grunting language. Leia met their eyes as she bounced up and down for their amusement, refusing to wilt under their mocking stares. Inwardly, though, she burned with an unending humiliation at the way she helplessly put on a show for their pleasure.

At last the ordeal ended, and although she dreaded what else was to come, she stood proud and tall as she glared at her captors, pretending that she was far more unafraid than she actually felt.

“Well done, pet.”

Leia scoffed, but felt a disconcerting flush of pleasure at the woman’s praise.

“Time for some more tests. Hmmm ... Flexibility, perhaps? Yes, that sounds good. Slave, place your hands above your head and stretch backwards as far as you can without falling over.”

Leia did so, mindful of the way the motion lifted and displayed her chest, but unable to do anything about it. Unable to stop herself, Leia contorted her body backwards, bending as far back as she could. It was not particularly impressive. Though the rebellion had kept Leia more than active, it had left her with little time for formal training, and so she was far more stiff than she would like. But then again, flexibility wasn’t the actual point here, Leia knew, but rather to expose and humiliate her further.

Still, that damned chip in her skull was unsatisfied with her first efforts, and so she was forced to bend further and further until she thought she was going to collapse.

“Enough. You may stand straight once more.”

That was one command Leia was all too happy to follow.

“Now turn around and touch your toes,” she commanded. “No bending at the knees.”

This time Leia tried to struggle, though it was ultimately futile. After only a token resistance, she was bent over with her hands on her feet. Leia stood there, body shaking, feeling more vulnerable than she ever had before in her entire life. She didn’t know what the guardsmen were saying with their snuffing grunts. She didn’t want to know.

But she could guess.

That damned woman held her there, far longer than before. Until Leia’s legs shook and her calves burned, though not half as much as they did when she tried to stand up. She thought of the hardships she had faced, the pain she had suffered. So much had happened these past few years, and yet nothing so personal, so perverted and banal as this. To have her most private parts so lewdly displayed was an insult to her dignity both as a princess of Alderaan and as a general of the Rebellion.

Yet what could she do? Try as she might, the most she could manage was a brief second or so of disobedience, before sheer instinct melted her iron will and forced her back into position. Leia was helpless, utterly and completely vulnerable, and there was nothing she could do about it.

There was motion. Someone standing just behind her, close enough that she could feel the air move around them. Who was it? Leia craned her eyes, but could not move her head far enough to see.

One of the guardsmen? They wouldn’t. Even she couldn’t stoop so low as to allow them-

Would she?

No! Leia spasmed, tried to fight it like she had never fought before. But what did that accomplish? Enough to make her collapse to the floor, but even that was a faint reprieve. No sooner had she landed, than she sprang back up and into position, moving no less urgently than she would had the floor been searing hot metal.

“Enjoying yourself princess?”

A slap on her back jolted Leia, though this time she barely moved from position. Not a guard after all, then. It was only that woman. For a brief moment Leia actually felt grateful.

Grateful!

She found that she could talk.

“Stop this,” Leia said, “Please.”

“I asked you a question, slut! Are you enjoying yourself.”

Leia found herself compelled to answer.

“No!” she said, “Of course I’m not.”

“That so? But you’ve been down there for minutes.”

“You know I can’t help it!” Leia insisted.

“That’s right, you can’t. You just do what you’re told. Isn’t that so?”

“Yes!” Leia said, tears streaming from her eyes.

“Then you’ve learned your first lesson. Stand up.”

She did so, trying not to think about how good it felt to obey the woman’s commands.

“Time for a new lesson, then. Guards out.”

They complained, Leia could read their body language and tone enough for that, but they did as they were told. Apparently this woman was high enough in the fat slug’s esteem to command obedience from the brutes.

Then it was just the two of them. That should have been comforting, but somehow Leia knew that things would only get worse.

She wasn’t wrong.

“Much better. Just us girls now. No need for those fat, ugly guards. We both know you’re going to behave for me.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Leia declared, her voice icy cold. “I don’t know when, and I don’t know how, but know that the last thing you see will be my face above yours as I end your twisted life.”

She steeled herself for punishment, but the woman just smiled.

“You always say the nicest things. But first, kneel down and I’ll tell you what the next place I’m going to see your pretty little face.”

Leia immediately sank to the floor, and watched uncomprehending as the other woman stripped out of her skintight jumpsuit.

“What are you-”

“Shhh ... You’re done talking. Now it’s time to have some fun. For me, at least, but I’m sure you’ll learn to like it too.”

As Leia fell silent, the woman finished stripping and sat down at the table, pausing only to order Leia to keep her eyes from wandering away. There was a certain grace and poise to her, Leia was forced to admit, a predatory sensuality that came to light as she strutted in front of Leia. Carnis had hinted at being a dancer once, before she had earned Jabba’s favor. Leia could believe it, although she had seen no sign of the woman during her time disguised amongst the Hutt’s guests.

The woman was attractive, Leia was grudgingly forced to admit. With a lithe dancer’s body that was nonetheless quite full figured. Were the woman not the perpetrator of her every humiliation, Leia might have even found herself jealous of the other woman’s body.

As it was, any admiration was drowned out by the vain yearning to smother her in her sleep.

“Ah, much better. Now, we were discussing where I would like to see that smiling face of yours. Have you guessed?”

Melina parted her thighs, and a dawning revulsion rose deep within Leia.

“You wouldn’t.”

“No? If you think that, you must not be too bright. So let me make it easy: I want you to bury your head right here between my thighs. I want your tongue all over my clit. You are going to eat me out, and you’re going to do the best damned job you can. That clear enough for you?”

Leia fought it every step of the way, moving in fits and starts every time she lost the battle, but before long she found herself staring up at the other woman and trying not to look at the gaping slit right in front of her.

“I can’t-”

“Of course you can. Now lick.”

She sat there with her tongue on fire, her every desire recoiling from what she was expected to do. Unfortunately, instinct won out over desire, and at last her tongue flicked out and slid across the Melina’s already wet opening.

The pain went away, but immediately Leia began retching.

“Stop that. You love this, slut, now act like it.”

Immediately, Leia’s protests ceased.

“Much better. Now get started.”

Leia had no choice. Bound by this infernal device, she was forced to lick and tease her hated tormentor’s slit, pretending all the while that she was enjoying herself.

“You’re terrible at this,” Melina said, “I’d have thought that a rebel slut like you would be used to this by now.”

“Of course not,” Leia gasped between licks.

“What’s that, you ungrateful bitch? You spent all your time fucking the boys and left the ladies out in the cold?”

She tried to protest, but Melina’s hands snaked through her hair and pulled her closer into the woman’s snatch.

It was absurd, of course. What time had Leia even had for casual dalliance? As a princess, she had been under constant scrutiny, expected to act at all times with proper dignity and gravitas. The relative freedom of her senate position had offered more opportunity, but what few flings she had were still short, abbreviated affairs, always coming second to the needs of state. As for the rebellion, when had she even had time for love. Except for Han...

Han.

He was here, now, waiting in a prison cell at this very moment while Leia pleasured Jabba’s harem mistress. What was happening to him right now? Was he safe, was he well. Was he thinking about her?

Leia wished that he was here, and also wished that he were anywhere else. It would have killed her for him to see her like this.

Unpleased by Leia’s fumbling efforts, Melina was quick to chastise and correct her. Over the next hour, Leia received a crash course in all the arts of pleasuring a woman, a task that she could have gladly gone her entire life without needing to know.

But as she worked, Leia came to a funny realization. She was enjoying herself. After she stopped fighting it and focused all of her attentions on the task at hand, Leia found that she actually enjoyed eating the other woman out.

Eventually, of course, she realized that it was all the fault of the chip in her head, forcing her to relish the humiliations her obedience brought, but by then it scarcely mattered. Artificial or not, Leia loved eating pussy, and gladly worked to please Melina, taking satisfaction in the way she brought the other woman to orgasm after orgasm.

When all was over, and a tired but unsated Leia stepped away from the satisfied taskmistress, Leia could not help but feel good about what had just taken place. It should have horrified her, but hours of pure enjoyment had taken their toll on her emotions, and it was simply impossible not to like what she had been forced to do.

In fact, a part of her wished that she hadn’t been told to stop.

“Mmm ... you learn quickly,” the reclining woman said with a languid stretch, “Jabba is going to love you.”

Jabba. In a cold rush, the reality of her situation returned to Leia, chasing away all of the warm fuzziness of her recent pleasure. She remembered where she was, and whose vile clutches she had fallen into, but there was little that she could do about it.

They forced her into a scanty outfit, one of binding metal and flowing cloth, an outfit that did little to cover and much to highlight. Although she was still covered with the sweat of lovemaking and panic, they did not offer her a bath. Jabba liked such things, Leia was told, much to her growing disgust.

Leia recoiled from wearing such a revealing outfit before a crowd, but was no more able to stop this than she could any of her other privations.

Far worse, however, were the words that Melina gave her to say.

Hundreds of people were in attendance, a cross section of scum from all corners of the galaxy. All of them here to witness Leia’s shame. Threepio was there on the dias, bound by a restraining bolt to serve the gangster, all part of a plan that was rapidly coming untangled.