In the East Wing of a storage and transferral base for Imperial supplies, Luke, Leia, and 3PO hide as troops are dispatched to B Dock before spotting them. One trooper hears 3PO's voice but shrugs it off as Leia covers 3PO's mouth. Disguised as cargo transporters, they seek Tay Vanis, who has tapes of a new Imperial super-weapon from Bothan System spies, and was en route here, posing as a trader. They visit a hangar bay, where their ship has been re-fueled; they will have to leave soon, but can't find Vanis' modified X-Wing, so they ask a manifest droid, LE914 ("Ellie"), about his destination. Luke is surprised to see a droid doing inventory, but 3PO is happy to meet a "female" droid. An alarm sounds, triggered to Vanis' file. Troops open fire, and as the droids take cover, Luke and Leia fire back. A blast deflected off Luke's 'saber nearly hits 3PO, but LE blocks the shot, as her previous owner made her blaster-proof, and joins them aboard the Falcon . Having seen coordinates before the computer shut off, she leads them to a castle that was the seat of government before the Empire killed the population. Spying Vanis' crashed X-Wing en route, they find a hologram saying he and Argo split up to protect the tapes. Vader was pursuing him, so Argo sought Rebel aid while he hid the tapes in LE914, who will destroy them if she doesn't hear from him. LE vanishes, and Luke is annoyed that both K-3PX and LE lied to him. Inside the castle, they overhear two officers laughing about the genocide of the locals. Capturing one officer, they make him lead them to Vanis. Acting cowardly, he leads them to a dark cell, where a hologram of Vader awaits. The officer grabs Luke's gun, but Leia kills him and they listen to the message. Vader, knowing Luke would come for Vanis, captured him long ago and secretly held him while the Rebels and Empire wasted time searching. He now offers Luke a gift: Vanis' broken body. Luke wants to take Vanis back with them, but LE enters, gives them the Bothan tapes, and says she had to be sure they were on the same side. Bidding 3PO farewell, she gathers Vanis' body and self-destructs to end his misery. Mourning briefly, the Rebels sabotage the main power station and leave. As the base explodes and Luke calls Ackbar to say they found no survivors, rain washes over 3PO's head, giving the illusion that he is crying.
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