"So we're out here in the armpit of Wild Space looking for—" Han stepped away from a Rodian fruit vendor trying to push a basket of thanatoberries under his nose. "Get outta my way, you green nightmare."
The Rodian began a feeble protest against the Corellian's insult, but was stopped by a hand wave from the young man who came up from behind his friend's left shoulder. "You will leave us alone." A steady look reinforced the calm declaration uttered by Luke.
The fruit peddler ceased his protestation, then disappeared into the crowd.
"Okay, that was-" Han glanced over at Luke "-interesting."
Luke shrugged. "It won't score me any points with the Force pulling a mind trick just to get someone out of our way."
"It was for a good cause. Her Holiness said the contact is gonna be here." The constant flow of crowds in Section Nine made it difficult to move. Doun Yeepine was a travel hub that connected the Sword's Edge with the furthest populated sectors of the galaxy. The planet's location in the center of the Hyperian Trade Route was its only notable attraction that could be openly promoted. Like many other spaceports that lay upon the galactic fringes, Doun Yeepine was a great place to disappear. That made finding someone in possession of confidential information that might benefit the Rebellion damned near impossible.
Han would never have gone on this frenzied coldppeda chase just to find somebody with information to help a lost cause back when he was merely a smuggler with debts owed to a Hutt and twenty-five other beings. Staying away from trouble made his daily life pretty simple; worrying about those debts and keeping the Falcon operational were enough to keep him occupied. Once the Death Star was blown up and the Rebels needed another place to hide, he couldn't resist the appeal from a princess with an imposing way of asking him a favor. It sounded like a simple request: take whoever volunteered for this mission to meet an unknown contact with information for a permanent Rebel base. He could stay on the Falcon while the operative went into the spaceport and retrieved the information. Han agreed to deliver the messenger, because Leia might actually be impressed by the gesture and for once would believe his reasons for staying with the Rebels was sincere and not just because he was hiding from Jabba.
"So where is the mysterious contact hanging around?" Han scanned the crowd, knowing it was unlikely whoever possessed the vital information would just come up to them and hand over a data chip.
"They will find us," Luke replied while looking across the concourse.
"I don't know how a flea could find anyone to get a decent meal from without a tracking device." The crowds were attired in various interpretations of gray, black, and brown. He wasn't much for fashion, but even the jaded Corellian had to admit life under the Empire limited the choice of colors among the common populace. That would make finding their contact even more impossible.
Not that Han wanted to draw attention to himself and Luke. He patted the blaster that sat on his right hip. Safety in numbers wasn't a man's only friend. Everyone needed a little extra security while undercover. The towering comfort of his Wookiee companion would have been yet another layer of protection. But Chewie was called back to Kashyyyk as part of the planet's resistance effort.
This was considered a low risk mission, so the Corellian and Jedi-in-training were dispatched to Doun Yeepine via the Millenium Falcon. The freighter's weathered appearance was the perfect vessel to transport the duo, at least according to Rebel Intel. Han could have argued the Falcon wasn't so inconspicuous that some bounty hunter might not detect it. But the influence of Luke and a certain princess made Solo reconsider. He couldn't leave the kid alone by himself in this corner of Wild Space. Of course Leia was more concerned about Luke's safety than his, but she also wanted Han to prove himself. Like the other times he'd done something noble didn't count. But Han didn't toss out another stupid argument. He wanted to accompany Luke, not only because the kid shouldn't be out here alone. Once Leia explained the importance of this meeting Han wanted to become involved.
"So are you picking up anything?" Han's attention was caught by a figure standing in the corner. Whoever it was wore a gray cloak that obscured the being's face and body. Said mysterious figure was staring in the direction of Solo and Skywalker. Luke scanned the spaceport, not just with his eyes but also supposedly with that weird mysterious power called the Force. Yet he didn't notice the cloaked figure.
Luke nodded. "I can feel we're being observed. Our contact is nearby."
Han inclined his head in the direction of the cloaked figure. "You mean that creepy one standing over there?"
The mysterious individual suddenly turned and began walking up the main corridor of Section Nine.
"Uh, Luke-"
Skywalker was halfway up the concourse before Han caught up to him. "How about a little warning next time before you go chasing somebody?"
"Sorry," Luke responded without stopping. "But she's noticed us and wants to meet somewhere less crowded."
"How do you know that?"
"Speaking without using words." Luke's response was tinged with amusement. That Force stuff was still hard to understand.
The aspiring Jedi continued his forward progress, moving at a steady pace with no stopping. His gaze was focused entirely upon the retreating gray cloak. The mysterious female was headed toward a relatively unpopulated section of the spaceport. Section Nine was primarily a storage and utility area. The only major source of foot traffic was a quartet of public restrooms, but there were larger and better-appointed facilities up at the crossroads that connected Sector Nine with the main terminal. The relative lack of repulsor and foot traffic made it a better meeting space.
The gray lady ducked around the shrouded mound of a freight loader, then turned to face Skywalker and Solo with hands folded below her waist. Luke stopped walking. He stepped forward while remaining ten paces away from the contact. The silence was immediate, and nearly swallowed up the background noise from the terminal.
Han stayed off to Luke's right, just in case the situation got tricky. He didn't have any other role to play during this interaction...it almost felt mystical, even though the mission was based upon something tangible. The whole point of coming to Doun Yeepine was important; this mysterious lady possessed information about a potential new home for the Rebellion headquarters. The most recent base on Thila had been discovered and raided five months earlier, which caused High Command to move around the Outer Rim in search of a new location. Certain scouts found potential worlds but none of them could be successfully colonized before the Empire detected those locations. But Leia received a coded message from an unknown source which mentioned yet another planet that could provide safety for the High Command. But the source refused to transmit the coordinates; even through a temporary encrypted portal hacked by one of the Alliance slicers. It was a strange and suspicious request, although Leia quickly accepted the offer. She claimed the source had proper credentials that proved this individual was one of the Rebellion's oldest allies.
Luke began the process by saying a prearranged sentence given to Leia by the source. It was part of a series of coded sentences that would prove the respective parties were on the same vid screen. "I come in search of good fortune."
The stranger bowed with hands still folded at her front. "I must first ask for ten credits before I can see into the Great Darkness in pursuit of your destiny." She extended her black-gloved right hand in Luke's direction. "Give and I will give in return."
Han realized this was a fictional scenario meant to hide their true interaction. But he didn't understand the nature of the scenario. If they were pretending to be a fortune reader and interested customer it would have been more convincing to do this near the eastern terminal where little shops littered the concourse. But maybe it would have attracted more curiosity seekers doing this in plain sight.
Luke nodded. "I shall pay for the reading." He turned to Han. "Give me the money."
Solo wondered if the stranger might have hypnotized the kid. Luke's face was almost blank in expression. "Are you okay?"
Luke grinned. "Still here."
"You really want to do this?"
"We need to finish what we started."
"Yeah. Okay." Han fought the urge to grab Luke and run back to the Falcon. This mission wasn't so important their personal safety could be jeopardized. But he reached into the bag and pulled out the golden datachip. "Credits for coordinates."
Skywalker nodded. Then he turned back to the lady and gave the chip to her.
The lady accepted her payment. Han noticed a flash of burnt orange skin that flashed briefly when she reached up for the gold object and a brief separation of fabric between cloak and glove exposed her wrist. She must have noticed Han's reaction, because the stranger quickly looked up into his face. He could see deep blue eyes underneath the hood, surrounded by an orange-skinned face and a set of white triangular stripes. One long blue and white striped long head-tail could be viewed under the cover of the gray woolen hood. Han realized she was a Togruta. He'd only encountered a few Togruta; most had retreated back to their homeworld of Shili after the Empire took power. They were the targets of slavers ever since the Clone Wars, plus a few of them had been supposedly picked up because they were former Jedi. Maybe this woman was one of those hidden mystics.
The stranger's reaction to Han was unexpected. A quick smile illuminated her composed features and brought light into the still blue eyes. Han couldn't help return the smile with his own surprised interpretation. It felt okay, even though he still couldn't trust her. It made about as much sense as hauling Luke to Alderaan rescuing Leia while still not knowing anything either one of them.
Maybe it was just the circumstances of the moment, or maybe she was pulling a Force trick. Because he decided the stranger had to be somehow in touch with the source of spooky.
The stranger regarded the chip for a moment. "Payment is not required. You have proven trustworthy." She handed the chip back to Han, then glanced at Luke. "And you are most certainly the son of Anakin Skywalker." She laughed. "Maybe I should introduce myself." Black gloved hands reached up to pull back the hood that obscured her features. Once the hood was removed, her face was revealed.
Luke stared at the stranger, unable to respond.
She definitely had that strange aura once possessed by old Kenobi, which probably explained why she came up with this crazy method to establish contact. It was hard to describe the feeling, but it was the same characteristic possessed by Luke to some degree.
"My name is Ahsoka Tano. I served in the Clone Wars with your father," she told Luke. Then she glanced at Han again. "And, yes, I was a Jedi."
"I thought you guys were extinct." Han glanced at Luke. Skywalker's expression indicated he didn't know about this recently discovered Jedi.
"Ben never told me because he thought there were no other Jedi," Luke said.
"Who is Ben?" the stranger asked.
Luke blinked in surprise. "You never knew him?"
"Thousands of Jedi fought across the galaxy back then. It was hard to know many individual Jedi when the Council assigned you to go from the Outer Rim to the Colonies."
Han remembered that the old Jedi also went by another name during his lifetime. "He also called himself Obi-Wan Kenobi. Does that sound any klaxons?"
Ahsoka's face lost its momentary confusion, replaced by a brilliant glow of happiness. "Master Kenobi! He did survive the Purge according to Bail. But he lost contact with him many years ago." Her face was suddenly darkened by a contemplative frown. "I felt something terrible in the Force that was-" Ahsoka shuddered "-disturbing, like too many similar feelings during those conflicts."
Luke finally responded with a choked voice. "That feeling was correct. Obi-Wan died while fighting Vader."
The last remaining brilliance disappeared from Ahsoka's eyes. She bit her lip, then nodded. "Of course. "It was inevitable. The master destroyed by his padawan."
Han could tell Luke was eager to ask the newly found Jedi about everything from her past. But he realized not only there wasn't enough time for a history lesson, it was also merciful to let Ahsoka keep those memories to herself. "Sorry, but we're here for those coordinates."
She nodded "Yes, that is certainly true." Ahsoka pulled out a black plastene storage disc. "This contains all the necessary information related to the planet and its system. One not very interesting detail is both share the same name."
"What does that name happen to be?" Han asked.
"Hoth." She handed the disc to Solo. "It's not an ideal location for a potential base, but it's remote and basically unknown to most major organizations. Not even the Hutts know about this planet."
"I've definitely never heard of it," Han replied.
"Hopefully this will prove useful to High Command." Ahsoka placed her right hand on Luke's shoulder. "May the Force be with you." She nodded at Han. "Also with you."
Ahsoka stepped back from them and turned in the direction of the main spaceport.
"Wait-!" Luke exclaimed.
The Jedi from another era turned back to face Luke with a smile. "We'll meet again."
Luke nodded in silent understanding.
Han looked at the disc. The possibility of safety felt elusive, like the promise of some lost treasure. The Rebellion had a long way to go before it could find true peace from the Empire's oppression. Running from one remote location to another had become the standard order of business for the resistance. Having a permanent headquarters wouldn't win the war any faster, but it would give the Rebels a steady space to plan new battles and find new ways for getting one step closer to victory.
His fingers clasped around the disc. The future was always uncertain. Maybe Hoth would eventually get discovered and destroyed; maybe Leia and the rest of High Command might spend another decade running until they sought refuge in the Deep Core.
But one day the bad guys would lose.
Han nodded at Ahsoka, who returned the gesture. Then he said to Luke, "Let's go."