The Baptist " The Baptist " is a short story written by Nnedi Okorafor for the anthology " From a Certain Point of View " . The story focuses on the dianoga in the Death Star ' s garbage chute . Plot summary . This story is told from the point of view of Omi , the dianoga that Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , and Leia Organa encountered after escaping Detention Block AA - 23 aboard the Death Star . Omi ' s story begins when she is kidnapped from her swamp by several Vodrans . Despite putting up a fierce fight , Omi is captured and placed inside a large spherical tank , which has a tight lid . The sphere is designed to hold a dianoga while still preserve the gases in the swamp water . After awakening , Omi finds herself in a large cargo bay , overlooking the swamplands . When the warehouse begins to move , Omi realizes that she is aboard a starship . Omi finds herself staring through the window deep into outer space . In distress , Omi comforts herself by telling herself that " home will stay om , but she must go . " She also tells herself to stay on path . During the journey , Omi receives a vision of fiery destruction and decides she must leave her prison . Omi reflects on fighting with a male dianoga named Iduna who wanted to exchange a few eggs ; dianogas were a hermaphrodite species who were able to change their gender at will . Omi recalls fighting and defeating Iduna through her Force - sensitivity . Over the next several days , Omi is fed dried fish by her Vodran captors , who slot it through a small hole in the lid . The bland taste of the fish stokes her anger and Omi decides to make an escape attempt . Using her seven tentacles , Omi manages to pry off the lid and haul herself out of her spherical prison . Despite the dry and cackling atmosphere , Omi is able to slide on the floor the cargo bay . Omi encounters several droid s , which she regards as lifeless beings . One of these droids is an MSE - 6 series repair droid . She also catches sight of a Hutt walking with a Vodran in white hard casing . Thinking the coast is clear , Omi makes a dash for the hallway only to run into two Vodran - like individuals encased in white , who turn out to be stormtrooper s . When one points a blaster at her , Omi is able to fight and kill the stormtroopers by submitting herself to a power called It . She crushes the first trooper with her tentacles and kills the second trooper with her poison spur . Despite sensing water nearby , Omi decides there is no way she can get off this ship and decides to return to her transparent bowl . The two stormtroopers ' bodies are soon discovered and sentries enter the room . However , Omi evades detection since she has screwed the lid on tightly . For the next several days , Omi spends the rest of her time inside the spherical chamber . As a precaution , two solid metal bars were place on top of chamber . After several days , Omi ' s ship approaches an object the size of a moon , which turns out to be the Death Star . Omi and her spherical chamber are hauled through the Death Star ' s sterile corridors by a large speeder . With her eye , Omi sees the interior of the Death and numerous droids and stormtroopers . Omi is then funneled down a tunnel into Garbage masher 3263827 . Over time , Omi realized that she was on a " dead planet that had been been alive . " She makes herself home in the sewers and garbage compactor , which has a swamp - like environment . Omi survives the false swamp by memorizing the routine of the walls . Twice a " day " , the thick metal walls would rumble twice and slowly march toward each other . While there was a large pipe near the bottom whose opening was protected by an invisible barrier until the moment when the old water was flushed out , Omi senses there is a large indenture near the bottom where something had made a deep dent in the left wall . On the day of Prince ss Leia Organa ' s rescue from the Death Star , Omi is consuming a large hunk of rotting meet when Leia , Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , and Chewbacca flee into the garbage chute . Enacting the belief of her people , Omi pulled Skywalker into the water , " baptizing " him , after she felt that he too was in " submission to It " before releasing him . Omi ' s actions startled Luke and his companions . During the struggle , Omi sustained a wounded tentacle when Han fired upon her with his blaster . After " baptizing " Luke , she then headed deep underwater before the compression cycle could begin . Following the encounter , Omi ' s injured tentacle fell off and grew back . Omi continued living in her false swamp until the fateful Battle of Yavin . Alone and cut off from her people , Omi opened herself to the Force , which told her stories of the universe , peoples , places , wars , and deep lessons . Submitting herself to " It " , she taught herself how to spin her body in ways she did not think possible . She also used her Force powers to lift heavy jobs . When the Death Star was destroyed by Skywalker , Omi submitted herself to destiny and wondered who she would become " the next time around . "