Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: All Creatures Great and Small (2 page)

S
MEEP—A TINY,
six-legged mouselike mammal known as a thwip—skittered through the long air duct, panting from the heat. It was a taxing journey, but the thwip knew it would all be over soon. Smeep passed an open grate, her four tiny eyes noticing movement in the hallway below. There was a Wookiee in sight—a tall, fur-covered arboreal species from Kashyyyk. It wore a bandolier across its chest
and was being escorted by two stormtroopers. It was an interesting sight, but it meant absolutely nothing to Smeep.

What was important was her mission.

The thwip reached a junction guarded by a tiny internal systems probe droid, no more than seven centimeters tall. The droid was a standard anti-espionage unit designed by Arakyd Industries. They floated throughout the air ducts, defending
against intruders and reporting any unusual findings.

Smeep froze, but it was too late. The probe droid scanned the tiny, furry mammal, reporting its sensor findings back to the computer to which it answered. From there, a technician would review the data and see what had triggered the scan.

Luckily, the probe droid was designed to neutralize high-tech infiltrators, usually of the espionage
class. It had no programming capable of handling a member of the rodent family, and with a lack of specific instructions, decided to continue its patrol.

Once the probe had sped away, the thwip continued on her journey. Smeep was close, very close. Three, maybe four more ducts and she would reach the paneling and the wires she needed to chew through. Then—

The sound of a barrage of blaster
fire suddenly thundered through the ducts. Somewhere nearby there was shooting and yelling. The thwip didn’t care for that, both because her sensitive hearing was easily overwhelmed and because it meant she might be discovered before she completed her mission.

From below, a hail of sparks burned through the duct. Whatever was happening nearby was dangerous. Smeep ran. One duct…two ducts…a
third, and then a left turn toward the next detention block, and down the narrow space between the outer walls, finally reaching the exposed wires…

More blaster fire. Smeep shuddered, hoping that whatever was happening didn’t involve the adorably large Wookiee she had noticed earlier. She got to work chewing on the wires. First a red…then a blue…then another red…then—

Smeep jumped back
as a spark erupted from the wires. Success. There was a hissing sound as a nearby door opened, and the thwip hurried back up to the duct and over to a nearby grate. Seeing the cell door open, she dropped down and scurried over to find her friend, the captive she had sought to release from the clutches of the Empire and its sinister Death Star—a wizened Nu-Cosian named Bobbajo.

W
AIT A MINUTE,”
interrupted the skeptical Jol Bengim, the Chevin’s gigantic lips flapping with disbelief. “The Death Star? Storyteller…of all the tall tales you have told, this one must be the tallest!”

P’nll Vun narrowed his beady black eyes. “I must admit…your story strains credulity. And even if you were there, how could you know what the thwip saw? How would it wander free while you
were trapped in an Imperial holding cell?”

As Bobbajo raised one hand and opened his mouth to answer, a loud crash shook the building.

“Those cursed slavers…” muttered a shifty-eyed human named Xavi Brightsun, his brow creased with anxiety.

One of the children, a human girl named Myette, frowned deeply. Engrossed in the story, she had completely forgotten about the perilous situation
in which they found themselves.

Bobbajo looked about the room, sensing the deep fear and frustration in his audience. So, like any good storyteller, he continued to speak….

B
OBBAJO AMBLED
slowly down the corridors of the Empire’s notorious Death Star. His escape from the cell had been uneventful. It was as if the Death Star’s security forces were tied up elsewhere. It was just as well, as the Nu-Cosian wanderer enjoyed the opportunity to search and explore the vast infrastructure of the massive battle station, particularly after spending so much time in a small
cell.

Still, as much as there was to see, it wouldn’t do to linger overly long.

Bobbajo reached into the large bag he was carrying. Like most of his belongings, it had been locked in the cellblock. Once freed, collecting his entourage of pets and friends had been a quick process.

Out of the bag flew a tiny snee named Qyp. And after a quick whisper from Bobbajo, the little creature
darted away.

Qyp’s little blue wings buzzed speedily as he darted through the Death Star’s cavernous halls, searching for the correct terminal that would deactivate the tractor beam devices, Bobbajo’s instructions fresh in his tiny mind. The Nu-Cosian had been quite clear: as long as the beams were active, the escape pods would be too hazardous for anyone to use.

A shout came from a nearby
detachment of stormtroopers. They hadn’t noticed the avian intruder, instead focusing their attention on a computer monitor that displayed detailed schematics of the Death Star’s trash disposal systems. This was of no concern to Qyp; ignoring it, the winged snee flew onward.

The truth was, the tiny creature was immensely anxious and, as usual, skittish. All snees were well-known worriers;
the planet they came from was so placid that they found just about any noise, or sudden activity, to be distressing.

But Qyp was an exceptionally brave snee, and he continued his search without much undue hesitation.

The long-beaked avian creature was no bigger than a human fist—and that included his wingspan—so Qyp easily flew above the sight lines of the many preoccupied Imperial agents
who were running about. In fact, the only notice the snee drew at all was when he flew into a large office of some kind, seeking a clear path to the necessary terminals, and was spotted by an exceptionally nosy blue-and-green R3-L1 unit—which ended up being slightly problematic for Qyp.

The astromech chirped out an alarm in droidspeak. Qyp obviously did not speak droid and simply tried to
pass the astromech, but it was plugged into the room’s computer core; a quick twist of the droid’s interface module and the doors were sealed. Qyp was trapped.

The snee grew more anxious than ever before. Bobbajo depended on him!

The droid whirled, disengaging from the computer system. The snee flitted about, seeking a new path, but there were none to be found. The astromech extended
a prong, arcing a threatening burst of electricity at Qyp. The snee darted through the air, the lightning missing his wings by the slightest margin. Then came another burst of electricity and another narrow miss. He was brave for a snee, but even still, Qyp was scared—scared of the mean droid, scared of all the noise, scared of not reaching the tractor beam controls in time….

But the astromech
was unrelenting; its semitransparent domed head spun like mad, tracking the snee wherever he flew. Frustrated and alone, Qyp knew he had only one chance at defeating the evil Imperial droid.

Spying a small device mounted to the ceiling, the snee flew upward. The droid fired another volley of lightning—the blast striking exactly where Qyp had been only a split second before—and suddenly the
device on the ceiling erupted, spraying water throughout the room. It was a fire control system, activated by the droid’s attack.

The droid let out an angry screech as water rained down on it. Qyp flitted back and forth, mocking the mean-spirited droid, which was still advancing on the snee. The droid’s entire body was drenched, and its wheeled legs splashed through the puddles that had formed
on the floor. Qyp paused, a perfect target for the belligerent piece of machinery….

The Imperial droid fired once more, and Qyp darted out of the way. The electric arc instead struck the water that was running off a console and onto the floor….

The water carried the electrical current, sending it back to the angry droid. The R3 unit instantly began to shake, its many compartments and flaps
bursting open from the overload of electricity. It made a single sad moaning noise as it fell over and landed on the wet floor with a mighty splash.

The winged snee landed on the nearby console, tapping at the controls delicately, and the doors opened. On the other side was the trench leading to the tractor beam terminal.

Finally!

Qyp flew past two stormtroopers and overheard a discussion
about reports and a drill of some kind. None of it made much sense, but they were distracted and that was good enough for the tiny creature. His wings were very tired after his battle with the R3 unit, and he definitely didn’t want the attention of two fully armed stormtroopers.

Flying down a long hallway and around a corner into a large open area, Qyp found the tractor beam controls at last.

The snee landed and pecked at a couple of buttons. It was strange; the tractor beams were already deactivated—although the lock had been left in place. Qyp didn’t really understand any of that, of course, but the little creature had well memorized the routine of instructions whispered by the calm and placid Bobbajo, and the snee could tell that most of the steps were already complete.

Most, but not all.

Pecking rapidly, the snee unlocked the automatic security field that would blast any ship escaping the Death Star with an automatic ion pulse. And with that, it was done. The escape pods, and any other ship, would be free to leave.

Qyp pitched back into the air, flying through the Death Star to escape with his friend Bobbajo.

B
ACK ON JAKKU,
Bobbajo’s recounting of the bold adventure was abruptly interrupted once more as Jol raised one of his enormous eyebrows. “A snee deactivated an Imperial tractor beam? I’ve seen your pets do marvelous things, I’ll admit, but you know that’s not possible!”

“Ahhh…” Bobbajo said slowly. “Qyp was quite clever. But even then…he did not deactivate the tractor beam. Instead…he
simply unlocked the ionic disruptors…a task any snee might do…if properly trained.”

“What happened then?” asked Adlee, thoroughly enraptured. A Wookiee child nodded his head and made a tiny growling noise, also wanting to hear more.

Just then there was a loud crash outside. Several of the citizens began crying in fear. P’nll and Thaddeeus exchanged anxious whispers with a large-eyed and
hairless member of the Bith species called Arek Emjon, while Xavi Brightsun tried to climb up high enough to see out one of the town hall’s windows.

“Are they coming for us now?” asked Myette, her eyes wide with fright.

“No…” answered Bobbajo reassuringly. “There is still…more story to tell….”